Football
Steve Tignor, TENNIS.com 17y

Perfect time for summer sun

Last year Marcos Baghdatis made it clear that he likes to play in Australia. Not only did he make a surprise run to the final in Melbourne, he enjoyed the support of the crowd thanks to his many local Cypriot cousins. Baghdatis' enthusiasm is undiminished 12 months later. "Whenever I see Rebound Ace and the color of the court, I just want to play," Baghdatis said this week. "I don't know why, it just gives me motivation to play; the sound and the sun, it just motivates you."

I know how you feel, Marcos. I've never played tennis on Rebound Ace, and I've never been to Australia. Which may be why I love to watch the Aussie Open on TV -- it exists only on a screen for me. The tournament seems to be beamed from another planet every January, a two-week, late-night blast of summer sun in the dead of winter. At a time when the pros should be hibernating, they're suddenly gathered for a major event. Like Baghdatis, I find those Rebound Ace courts, which are a blisteringly pale green -- you can almost feel the heat coming off of them -- somehow motivating.

We're not the only ones. The Aussie Open has produced many of the best matches of this decade. Safin-Federer, Serena-Sharapova, Roddick-El Aynaoui, Safin-Agassi all went down in Rod Laver Arena. This shouldn't be surprising. Rebound Ace is a "neutral" surface, meaning that it's fair to all styles of play. Andy Roddick says the courts in Melbourne "take the bounce." Whether you hit flat, with top spin, or with slice, the ball does what you want it to do. When that happens, the level of play rises on both sides of the net.

Yes, the tournament is hard on U.S. tennis fans. We'll all be on the graveyard shift for the next two weeks. But there's something intimate and intense about watching tennis being played live, in that impossible sunshine, in the darkness and quiet of your living room. One of my favorite sports-spectating memories is staying up until all hours -- and against all better judgment -- to see El Aynaoui upset Lleyton Hewitt in 2003 (the legendary match with Roddick came next, but I liked this one better). Last year, I TiVo-ed the matches and watched them in the morning. While I could actually keep my eyes open at work, I missed the late nights. With daylight all around me, the Australian sun lost a little of its glory.

Roger Federer, a two-time Open winner, also loves Aussie tennis. But this week he mentioned that the tournament would make more sense in March, when it would lead into the main tour schedule. He's right, the Australian as it is now is a tease; after it's over, the sport disappears again. Still, I like to take a different view. I see these two weeks as a kind of tennis oasis, a Grand Slam in the desert. I'd keep it right where it is; January is a perfect time for a little summer sun.

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