Words and Photos By Jack Gracie.Tuesday, the day of injuries, sunshine, famous boyfriends and upsets.
Sitting courtside on Tuesday was one of the most enjoyable sporting experiences ever. I challenge anyone else there to admit that they did not at least once recline back in their seat, in the silence and glorious sunshine of centre court and think to themselves four simple words. This is the life.
The day promised so much with the top three seeds in the woman’s competition, top male seed Richard Gasquet and former US open champ, Andy Roddick all in action.
The play turned out to be just as dramatic with all three top seeded woman and the previously mentioned Gasquet all becoming victims of giant killings. The only thing to live up to its name and reputation on Tuesday was the sunshine coast itself! And this reporter has the sunburn to prove it!
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| Ekaterina Makarova gives Eastbourne a big thumbs up. Photos by Jack Gracie. |
Caroline Wozniacki, seeded third in the tournament, brought a certain degree of ‘eye candy’ to centre court in the match that followed, sporting a yellow skirt which shined as brightly as the Eastbourne sun. Unfortunately for her (and for many fellow male spectators who have tickets for later in the tournament!) she would not be gracing centre court again, eventually losing 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 6-4 to American Christina McHale.
Any attempts of an offer for a shoulder to cry on were squandered though by the fact that her professional golfer boyfriend, Rory McIlroy, was watching on from the stands. Like Wozniacki, McIlroy has not experienced much success himself of late but who wouldn’t find her a distraction?!
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| Rory McIlroy looks on from the stands. Photos by Jack Gracie. |
Before their game had even begun, top seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, had already crashed out over on court one. The Brits were fairing much better with both Laura Robson and Heather Watson progressing to the 2nd round.
Next the men took to centre court for the eagerly anticipated all American affair between Sam Querrey and Andy Roddick. The latter being very well received especially by the female proportion of the stands. (Their equivalent of Wozniacki maybe?). The pace was bumped up a notch with serves of over 135MPH fizzing over the net along with hitting as hard as resisting the tempting smells of the barbeque wafting across centre court all afternoon.
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| Marinko Matosevic celebrates his dramatic win over top seed Richard Gasquet. Photos by Jack Gracie. |
After a slight delay, number one seed Richard Gasquet took to the court against Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic. Gasquet breezed through the first set winning 6-1 with Matosevic ironically celebrating just winning his first game of the match at 5-0 down. Little did he know that an hour later he would be celebrating an epic win. The following sets both went to tie breaks which were won by the Australian ranked 82 in the world, giving him what he described as the “biggest win of his career” and earning him a standing ovation from the Eastbourne crowd.
Matosevic’s win brought down the curtain, (or should that be net?) on what had been a terrific day of tennis. One that this reporter feels very fortunate to have been a part of.
Follow the link to view all the photos Jack took at the AEGON International on Tuesday.
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