february working blues

It’s February and time to knuckle down again to earn my keep. So i hoisted sails to moreton bay and then paddled upstream to Brisbane.

Tennyson on the southside of Brisbane, is the site of this multi-level multi-building development called Tennyson reach. This is part of a complex that includes the new international Tennis Centre and extensive public landscaped parklands, bikeways and pathways for jogging and walking. Tennyson Reach is a premium residential precinct of apartments. The site covers about 12 hectares and some few hundred meters of Brisbane river frontage. Units prices at this address start at $650K. I am not overly enamored by this address. But i had to make deliveries here for a couple of weeks. I found some notable discrepancies in the place but hey where is the perfect address eh?

During smoko i would check out the brand new Tennesse walt.. Tennyson ter... tennis centre it is, right opposite the units development. The Queensland Tennis Centre actually shares the same address. It has 23 international standard courts including clay, grass and hardcourt surfaces – the first in Australia to be built with all three Grand Slam surfaces. I didn’t get to watch the tennis there last January. I musta been dozing away in the early rounds of this first official atp/wta tennis tournament of 2009. The winner in the women’s event was the belle dina a-asar Victoria Azarenka from belarussia. I tried rooting for her by yelling out propositions: “vicky kasarenka” but she wasn’t taking any notice of me through the tv screen. Annoyed I wanted to annoy her back: “Vicky asarenka”. However that seemed to inspire her and she went on to beat former Wimbledon finalist French girl Marion bar Toli (I tink she’s a cousin of the Taulis from the mt province) 6-3 6-1.

So anyway the new tennis centre has an arena named after one of queensland’s favourite sporting sons: one pat cash, no it’s pat rafferty, get it right marto it’s pat rafter Arena, brother of the great singing sensation tina Arena. He is also related to Mac Arena who invented a dance.

They say pat’s a nice guy. In his prime, when he played anywhere around the world, he sure packed stadiums to the rafters.
Hey back to work.
Okay then. So who won the men’s?

A fellow who can do the tadek and does not panic is Brisbane’s new favorite stepson. Radek Stepanek overcame the tournament favourite, a guy - who did not hear the drums- called Fernando, in a thrilling Brisbane International final 3-6 6-3 6-4. Stepanek used all his wares to defeat the higher ranked rival - the mild as a tabasco - Verdasco, at Pat Rafter Arena and claim the tournament’s inaugural title.