来源: http://www.ausopen.org/ The A to Z of Australian Open 2003 Sunday, 26 January, 2003 A is for Andre. The four-time champion. B is for Ball kids. The tireless foot soldiers of the Australian Open, there to cater to the every whim, not matter how demanding, of the players. C is for Clijsters. 'Aussie Kim' came the closest of anyone to derailing the Serena Slam, when leading 5-1 in the third set of their semi-final. D is for Daniilidou. Eleni did OK in the singles, made the final of the mixed doubles with Todd Woodbridge and will become a marquee attraction at Melbourne Park for years to come, particularly for Melbourne's large and loud Greek community. E is for Eight. That's how many consecutive points Andre Agassi won before Rainer Schuettler realised the final had started. F is for 5pm. If you thought the competition was tight on centre court, you should have seen the feeding frenzy when the complimentary finger-food came out for the journos in the media room every afternoon. G is for Giant tennis balls. Apparently, no child was permitted to leave the Australian Open without one of these giant, green fuzzy things, because they were everywhere. H is for Hantuchova. The most downloaded player on the official Internet site, and a quarter-finalist in the women's singles. I is for Andrew Ilie. Kept his shirt on for the second straight year, after a first-round loss to fellow Aussie, Jaymon Crabb. J is for John McEnroe. Enlivened and enlightened both the Channel Seven commentary and the post-match public interviews on Rod Laver Arena with his wit and his knowledge. Don't wait another four years before returning. K is for Kournikova. No longer the most downloaded player on the Internet site. L is for Lleyton Hewitt. There was no joy for the local hero, beaten by Younes El Aynaoui in the fourth-round. But his class and dignity in defeat was a credit. M is for Margaret Court. A welcome visitor to Melbourne Park this year for the opening of Margarent Court Arena, formerly Show Court One. N is for Martina Navratilova. Winner of the mixed doubles here with Leander Paes. Not bad for a 46-year-old who was 13 years removed from her last visit to Australia. O is for Oppressive heat. The women's final was the first to be played under a closed roof in its entirety, as Melbourne baked through a 44 degree day, the city's second hottest day on record. P is for Parties. Every afternoon at 5pm, Garden Square would come alive at the end of another long and hot day of tennis. Lots of Heineken, lots of music - and lot's of fun. Q is for Quality. Some of the tennis at Australian Open 2003 was simply awesome, including the Roddick-El Aynaoui clash, the Lindsay Davenport-Justin Henin-Hardenne fourth-round clash, the second-round Mark Philippoussis- Paradorn Srichaphan match and Lleyton Hewitt's loss to El Aynaoui in the fourth-round. R is for Roddick. See Younes. S is for Serena Slam. Can anyone stop the younger Williams sister after winning her fourth-consecutive Grand Slam? T is for 2004. Australian Open 2004 starts on January 19 and will run until February 1. Only 358 more sleeps. U is for Countries starting with the letter 'U'. Uzbekistan, with Vadim Kutsenko making the second-round, fared better than Great Britain, which had no player in the men's singles draw. V is for Venus. Come on Serena, give her a break. W is for Wet Bulb Globe Temperature. Not only did the temperature outside have to reach 35 degrees before the roof was shut, but the WBGT, whatever that is, had to have reached 28. X is for Xavier Malisse. The Belgian, who made the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, was forced to retire because of injury in the third-round against David Nalbandian. Y is for Younes el Aynaoui. With Roddick gave us the most memorable highlight of the tournament, a five-set quarter-final that was finally decided 21-19 Roddick's way. Z is for Mariano Zabaleta. He lost 6-4 in the fifth set to Felix Mantilla in the first-round. ----------------------------------- --

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