Being able to umpire at the Australian Open whilst visiting some friends in Sydney was an amazing opportunity for me. I’d never umpired outside of Europe before let alone travelled so far from the UK. I was looking forward to seeing some Oceania umpires who I had worked with several years ago and, of course, to seeing my friends who had emigrated there. I should point out at this stage that the trip was entirely self-funded, i.e. at no cost to the Association, although the Officers did have to give their approval for me to be allowed to umpire.
I left Manchester Airport early on Thursday November 10th and travelled to Doha first before boarding my second flight and arriving in Sydney at 6:45pm on Friday evening. I was met at the airport by my friends and travelled to their house for a much-needed bite to eat and a good sleep!
We spent Saturday at a beach chilling out and Sunday walking around a bay near their house with a spot of shopping thrown in.
On Monday afternoon, my friends took me to the hotel so that I could check in before walking to the venue for the briefing. We were staying at the Olympic Park and I could see the athletics stadium from my hotel room window. It was great to see David Turner, Susan Taylor, Jiten Bhatt and Trish Gubb again (I’d last worked with David at the London Grand Prix in 2013) and to meet lots of other umpires that I hadn’t worked with before. I collected my blue umpiring shirts plus a jacket and headed for the briefing.
There was qualifying on the Tuesday morning but there had been lots of withdrawals - in part due to changes in quarantine rules in China as well as several players having already secured their places at the World Tour Finals – so there were fewer matches than expected. I wasn’t umpiring in the first session but arrived at the stadium later for the first round of the mixed doubles. There was a decent crowd for the first day, the venue was great and everything was very well organised. It was good to get some games under my belt and we finished the day in the ice cream shop (Cold Rock) underneath the hotel where there were lots of different flavours to try!! Wednesday was similar as again I wasn’t umpiring in the first session so I wasn’t due at the venue until 12:15pm. Like the day before, we were allocated to courts for the session but I was with different umpires this time. Again, we gathered at the ice cream shop at the end of the day.
Thursday was a full day so I was at the venue early for a change. We were still using four courts, were allocated to a court again and there were more spectators than earlier in the week which created a good atmosphere. There were several close games and the crowd really got involved. Despite it being a full day, there was still time to gather at the ice cream shop for the obligatory end of day ice cream. There was quite a group of us there – several umpires but also other volunteers who were working at the event behind the scenes.
Friday was quarter finals day but play wasn’t due to start until 3pm. A trip to Featherdale Wildlife Park was arranged for us and Susan’s daughter Lee had manged to organise discounted tickets for us. A group consisting of several umpires and some of the referee team set off early for the half an hour journey. The park was a fantastic experience – we got to see lots of Australian animals and birds close up including koalas, kangaroos, wombat, wallabies, kookaburras, parrots, echidnas, ghost bats, snakes, spiders, penguins and a big crocodile. The highlight for me though was being able to feed the wallabies and kangaroos – I wanted to bring one home!!!
When we got to the arena, there were only three courts now and we were no longer allocated to one court. My first game was service judging a men’s singles with Bo from the USA. An Australian player featured in this so the crowd was rather vocal but it was a rather one-sided game resulting in him losing in 29 minutes. Later I was the umpire for a women’s doubles with JP from New Caledonia – this was a rather different affair as it lasted 84 minutes and used 43 shuttles!! JP and I weren’t finished though as we found ourselves back on court together for one of the last games but this time I was the service judge and it was men’s singles. It was an all-Japanese affair and resulted in another marathon match- 80 minutes. JP and I were labelled the ‘pair of death’ by the refereeing team and banned from being on court together the next day. I was still allowed an ice cream when we got back to the hotel though!
Saturday was semi-finals day so we were down to two courts and there was a very big crowd. The organisers had kindly given me some tickets so my friends were able to come and watch. We also had the IRS system in use for the first time in the tournament. We only had one match each and mine was the last one of the day but it was certainly worth waiting for. A men’s singles involving one of the players from the 80-minute match the day before. During the warm up, one of the technical guys arrived by my chair to inform me there was a problem with the microphone so it took a while to get in sorted – much longer than the 2 minute warm up. That, coupled with an IRS call on the very first point meant it wasn’t the start I’d anticipated! The match lasted 85 minutes and afterwards I was told that it was clearly me not JP who had been responsible for the long games the day before!
My friends really enjoyed the semi-finals and there was time afterwards to take them to the ice cream shop to let them sample what I’d been raving about all week. They agreed that the ice creams were delicious.
Finals day was soon upon us and with a sell-out crowd, there was a great atmosphere. I was the service judge for the third game- women’s singles- alongside Kelvin from New Zealand. It was a good match won in two ends in 36 minutes and Kelvin and I were soon on the podium receiving our commemorative medals which were a really nice touch.
After the final match, the officials gathered at a nearby restaurant for a farewell meal together. It was lovely to see everyone together including umpires, referees and other volunteers who had helped make the tournament run so successfully. My friends picked me up and there was time for one final ice cream from Cold Rock before we headed back to their house.
I spent the following week with my friends and we managed to fit in several of the usual tourist sights – the Opera House, Darling Harbour fireworks, the Opera Bar, the Harbour Bridge, a trip on the ferry to Manly, Bondi Beach and the Anzac Memorial to name a few. We sampled lots more ice creams – the Cold Rock ones were still our favourite though – and I tried some Australian gins. I had an amazing time in Australia – I was really well looked after at the tournament by everyone involved there and then had a great time with my friends. It was certainly an experience to cherish and one I will always remember.