Australian Open 2015: Strange but true ball boy stories as Victoria Azarenka disses Vegemite
THE SCORE: A ball boy’s chocolate addiction lands him in hot water as Victoria Azarenka disses our national spread, Vegemite.
Tennis
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THERE is always some interesting tales to come out of the ball kids ranks.
Given they are so close to the action, inevitably they get involved and have a story to tell when they get home.
For example on Thursday morning one boy was forced to leave court after copping a 200km serve from Feliciano Lopez in the region where it hurts the most.
There was a good one from last year that involved a complaint to Tennis Australia from a parent about the treatment of their son.
It turns out the young fella had got home after one of those scorching hot days and spewed all over the carpet.
The concerned mother immediately thought her boy had been mistreated as he was clearly suffering some form of dehydration.
TA investigated immediately and as part of it looked at how the boy spent the $24 allowance which the ball kids receive for food and beverage each day.
They found their answer.
It turned out our sick boy had a thing for Chomps purchasing 24 of the chocolate bars at $1 each throughout the day.
VIKA NO VEGEMITE KID
IT’S understandable that Australia is Victoria Azarenka’s favourite place in the world.
Her two Grand Slam titles have come at Melbourne Park which is why it’s comes as a shock that she’s not up with our national icons.
It turns out the Belarussian had no idea that Vegemite was the pride of Australia.
When asked if there was anything she didn’t like about Oz with Vegemite raised as a possibility, Azarenka said:
“I actually don’t like Vegemite. It’s probably one of the things. But does it really relate to Australia, Vegemite?”
When that was confirmed, she seemed genuinely shocked: “Does it? Well, you found one.”
LOST IN TRANSLATION
ALL the main press conferences at the Open are transcribed for the world’s media and every now and the translation throws up a doozy.
There was some confusion during Eugenie Bouchard’s interview who has again created headlines off the court.
Last year the striking Canadian caused a worldwide stir when she said Justin Bieber would be her perfect date during a post-match interview.
This week it has been Twirlgate which has gone viral after the No.7 seed was asked by a male commentator to do a spin and show off her outfit to the crowd.
Yesterday she was asked: “Is it deja vu from the situation here last year and the on-court question?
The translation of her reply was: “You mean the beaver question.”
TWEET OF THE DAY
SteveJohnson - @SJohnson_89
“Hey @StevieJohnson20 saving you a couple of box seats for my match tomorrow let me know if you can make it #TeamStevieJ
THE WHISPER
A high-profile first-round loser and her father got into a heated exchange at Tullamarine Airport which we hear stopped fellow passengers in their tracks.