Australian Open 2020: Serena’s royal smackdown; umpire goes bananas
Serena Williams and Dustin Martin became friends after meeting in the Maldives last year. But the Australian Open is a Dusty-free zone. PLUS Bizarre scenes as player roasted over ballgirl request.
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The Australian Open will be a Dusty Martin-free zone.
That’s according to his new bestie Serena Williams who said it would be too “crazy” for the Richmond star to come and watch her matches.
The pair became friends after meeting in the Maldives last year and have remained in contact.
“It was just by chance. We met in Maldives. He just happened to be there. We just hung out. We had a blast,” Williams explained after her easy first-round victory over Russia’s Anastasia Potapova.
“We decided he couldn’t come to the Australian Open because he would be mobbed way too much.
“So it was, like, If we could hang out, it would be cool. But definitely not in Melbourne Park or here. It would be way too crazy for him.”
Williams has done her research and said she was aware of how big the Brownlow Medallist and two-time Norm Smith Medallist was in his hometown.
“Yeah, for sure. That’s why we were, like, Not here. He can’t do everyday things like that. He’s way too recognisable. I think everyone would go nuts if they saw him,” Williams said.
“It would be really crazy for him. Yeah. It’s cool. He’s so good at his job. It’s insane. It’s so cool to get to know other athletes that are so good at their craft and almost just get to talk to them and see what makes them so good.”
SERENA’S ROYAL SMACKDOWN
Journalists often get a bad rap but sometimes we don’t help ourselves.
Take the opening question of Serena Williams’ press conference.
Question: “Your good friend, Meghan Markle, who attended your last two slams, and Harry, have taken a move, a stance that many people think is extraordinary and historic. What are your feelings about that? Have you spoken to her?”
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Williams is an old hand at handling ridiculous questions so she didn’t miss a beat with her reply: “Yeah. I have absolutely no comments on anything with that. But good try. You tried. You did good.”
It turns out the journo has form. American Bill Simons - who ironically has a picture of him and Serena on his Twitter profile - is famous for another opening question a couple of years back to Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.
He started off that press conference by saying simply: “Congratulations”.
The only problem was Mahut had actually lost the match.
NAOMI’S NET FAULT
There is power and then there is Naomi Osaka power.
After back-to-back aces the reigning Australian Open champion broke the net in Rod Laver Arena, dislodging a clip on the centre strap with a 179kmh rocket in the second game of the second set.
Only a slight delay ensured, as officials responded quickly to reconnect the strap and return the net to the mandated 91.4cm height specification.
The Japanese sensation, who owns a career-fastest 201kmh serve back in 2016, rained down seven aces in her straight sets win, including 189kmh thunderbolt.
Osaka arguably saved her best work for last, completing a striking Nike ensemble with a matching bum-bag after her cruisy straight sets first-round win.
****
After calling out a Twitter troll the No.3 seed Osaka doubled down in her press conference when asked about the bizarre exchange with “big mad or little mad” Dianne Porrello (@dianne_porre).
“She was hating. What would her children think? You’re just going to come on the Internet and boo me for no reason. I didn’t do anything to you,” Osaka said.
“Yeah. She was very upset. I also wonder, people like this, if they see you in person, I wonder what they would do?
“Because, like, the Internet is so -- you don’t feel a human connection. So I always think it’s interesting.”
Porrello sparked the spat replying “boooooooo” to a GIF tweeted by the official Australian Open Twitter handle declaring “the champ is back” before Osaka’s first-round match.
GOING BANANAS
All eyes will be on French tennis player Elliot Benchetrit today after the world No.229 caused a stir in Australian Open qualifying by asking a ball girl to peel his banana.
Benchetrit, whose fingers on his right hand were heavily taped up, popped the question only to be scolded by chair umpire John Blom.
So Benchetrit wrote on Twitter that #Bananagate is only a 10-second video and that it doesn’t show the whole situation.
— Alex Theodoridis (@AlexTheodorid1s) January 20, 2020
Well, below is the entire sequence (33 sec) which shows exactly what happened. The blaming-social-media-card is not gonna work... https://t.co/RGmIJYz2cE
The Frenchman then attempted to peel the banana with his teeth.
Ball girls and boys are often asked to fetch water or towels during breaks but peeling fruit appeared to be a step too far.
Benchetrit will face Japan’s Yuichi Sugita, ranked 84th in the world.
CLONE CRUZ
Like father, like son… bar the backwards cap.
Same bounce. Same ripping forehand. Same intensity.
Lleyton Hewitt’s son Cruz, 10, looked the part on the practice court yesterday striking balls with Jannik Sinner before the rising Italian star’s first round match.
Cruz shared the experience with his 10,600 followers on Instagram followers.
“Thanks so much @janniksin for the hit today at @australianopen Good luck for the tournament. #RoleModel #NextGen” Cruz posted.
GRAND
The return of the bum-bag by Naomi Osaka needs to be acknowledged. After cruising through her opening round, the No.3 seed was quick to whack on the designer pouch which perfectly matched her striking outfit.
MORE TENNIS NEWS:
Stefanos Tsitsipas wants his fans to watch their behaviour during his Australian Open matches
Australian Open 2020 day one women’s wrap
Australian Open 2020: Ash Barty survives almighty scare against world No.120
SLAM
Everyone at Melbourne Park knew the rain was coming except - it seems - the tournament referee, who danced with the devil and left the roof open on Rod Laver Arena despite showers closing in. The result? An avoidable 10-min rain delay with Roger Federer leading Steve Johnson 4-1.
THE WHISPER
Is there a new Aussie tennis romance bubbling away behind-the-scenes? Keep an eye on the players’ box on Rod Laver over the next couple of nights.
Originally published as Australian Open 2020: Serena’s royal smackdown; umpire goes bananas