We planned our itinerary so we would be in Melbourne during the Australian Open. Mercifully, we didn’t plan to go during the first week when extreme heat put a damper on the tennis (and fans).

It was a very successful day out. We kicked it off by watching Serena Williams practice before her surprise ouster at the hands of Ana Ivanovic, with Sam noting her poor movement, and later regretting not placing a bet on the upset. Then off to Margaret Court Arena where we watched a slew of doubles, including the great Leander Paes and a couple of upstart, hometown Aussies. Then a men’s singles game, with Tomas Berdych comprehensively thumping 19th seed Kevin Anderson.

We capped it off watching in the beer tent on the big screen as the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard beat the Australian underdog in the night session.