Davis Cup 2001
Round 1
- Perth -
by Robyn Lakeman
Davis Cup - Perth – 9-11th February, 2001
WEDNESDAY
I arrived at 10.30am and unpacked. Great hotel, t0he Birdswood Casino Resort hotel, I took some pics. The twin room was great, Kerrin and I each had a double bed. I decided to check out the casino while waiting for Kerrin to arrive. Was playing roulette when Kerrin rang to say she was here. We had a quick lunch in Spinners Café and then off to practice.
Pat practiced at about 1pm (local time), first up he was on an outside court until Lleyton finished on the main court, then he moved there. He practiced for about an hour.
There were hundreds of school kids watching practice today and they were very loudly cheering "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" which became extremely annoying and they were eventually told to be quiet - I can just imagine what Woz was thinking, that is his most hated chant!
Pat was looking good in practice, hitting the ball well and in a good mood. I took about 60 photos, lots of different shots of him joking and laughing and some unusual ones as well.
Pat hung around afterwards while Wayne Arthurs was hitting up and he was having fun teasing and backchatting Wayne... everytime Wayne hit a lob out, Pat would say "great lob Wayne!" *lol*
Kerrin got her Davis Cup hat signed by both Wayne and Pat. Fitzy, Wally, Muddy, Fenton Coull and others were all there.
I spoke to Paul Kilderry and gave him some pictures of himself from the Aussie Open which he loved, he said he would love to get more of these in the future... I also gave him Josh Eagle's photos - Paul said that Josh loved to look at himself so he was sure he'd want them *lol*
There were some enthusiastic girls sitting behind us at practice so Kerrin and I told them all about Planet Rafter and the board.
Pat was asked what his current golf handicap was and he said "9", so if anyone is interested in that - there you go! Pat said that he just loves the Joondalup Golf Course, so if you are ever in Western Australia and want to have a hit of a golf ball he recommends that one!!!
When we were leaving, Pat drove by deep in concentration, but shortly after drove by again with a car full of people (damn, no room for us!) and he gave us a big enthusiastic wave and smile :-)
After we dumped our bags we sat out in the pool area and my friend Roger turned up at 4pm for a drink. Kerrin had a drink with us and then left to go back to the room. Roger and I went inside for a coffee at the pool café
For dinner we went to the buffet at the hotel and then it was off to meet Nev, Henry, Karin, Maria, Laura and the rest of the fanatics that had come to town early. We met up at Vultures restaurant where they were just finishing their meal and went on to the Brass Monkey pub. Pretty quiet night there but we had fun and ended up playing truth or dare, I’d never played that before, well we certainly found out the answers to some intimate questions there. Mongrel decided he would do a dare so I challenged him to blow up two condoms and wear them on his ears for the first game on the first day. He did, and he looked a scream lol, I have photos to prove it.
THURSDAY
Too late for breakfast this morning so grabbed a croissant and coffee near the pool. We then went for a walk outside the hotel.
Kerrin and I noticed quite a few people milling around outside on the lawn area of the hotel so we crossed the road and discovered it was the Davis Cup draw so managed to inconspicuously join the throng of Tennis Australia and press... I didn't have my camera with me and I didn't want to draw attention to us by going and getting it, however most of the players were bathed in light and shade which wouldn't have made for good photos anyway.
Kerrin said Pat looked like a "scrag-bag", very untidy with his shoelaces undone! but lots of lovely smiles for the press.
Both teams were in tracksuits and apparently Nicolas was looking very handsome indeed! The Equadorian colours were blue, yellow and red.
After the draw we went to the pool area to have some lunch and then caught a taxi out to the courts where we met up with Deb, Mandyb, Karin and Maria.
Pat practiced for quite a while and I took more photos. He seemed in a good mood and very happy, was hitting the ball well too.
After practice back to the hotel where I met up with my friend Roger for tea, afterwards I joined Kerrin and we caught a taxi to Red Rock, Claremont. We sat on the balcony with the other fanatics having a drink. Pete Rafter and Paul Kilderry were also there, in fact they spent every night at the pub with us and also sat with us in the stands most of the time.
Called it a night at midnight when the pub closed. Met up with Tamara tonight for the first time since we had arrived in Perth.
FRIDAY
First day of the tennis and we all met in a gazebo in the park outside the tennis venue. Woz, Paul Kilderry and Pete Rafter cooked us fanatics breakfast – sausages and bread. After breakfast we collected our tickets and t shirts and put on our war paint and were ready for some serious tennis.
Pat was up first playing Nicolas Lapentti. Pat defeated Nicolas in straight sets, as did Lleyton defeat Giovanni. Not very exciting tennis but we were up 2-0 so were pretty pleased with that.
The boys are always ribbing Paul about his website that Heidi does for him. Paul had some photos that a girl had given him that were taken in 1993 so I will mail them to Heidi to put up on his site. I mentioned the Japanese fan that had sent Heidi a link to her page with pics going right back and he said that that was his wife lol
That night we met at an Irish pub, Paddy McGuires in Subiaco and had a great night.
SATURDAY
Kerrin and I had breakfast at the hotel and then it was off to the tennis.
I felt very hot today right from breakfast and very tired. I ended up going to the First Aid van to get checked out and they gave me plenty of fluids and electrolytes and put ice packs on me. After an hour I went to go back up in the stands with the fanatics but still didn’t feel like I could stand sitting in the sun (this has never happened to me before). Anyway I ended up sitting in the shade all day and after the doubles which I’m sure Todd and Wayne were terribly disappointed in, actually Wayne more so apparently, we went and watched Pat and Lleyton practice.
When they finished practising Pat came over to the fence to sign autographs and someone yelled out “Pat, can you ask Lleyton to come over too” to which Pat replied “Lleyton’s a big boy now, he’ll come over if he wants to”.
We had a meal in the casino as I wasn’t sure if I should go out but Karin and Nev messaged me at about 9.30pm so Kerrin and I took a taxi over to the Spirit Sound Bar where everyone was. We sat outside for a while on the terrace and later moved out the back to a room full of lounges and bean bags. We watched Mongrel dance, he was funny and just chatted. At 11am Woz, Paul and Pete arrived. They had been to the Tennis Australia official dinner. At midnight (everything closes here early in Perth!) we were kicked out so Kerrin and I went home.
SUNDAY
Lleyton defeated Nicolas Lapentti in straight sets first up and then Pat came out and won the dead rubber and then announced courtside that he was to shave his head and beard on Tuesday for his Cherish the Children charity. Jokingly he said that he hoped it would help them in Brazil. Looks like that picture in the Herald Sun last week was fortuitous.
At one stage I was standing in front of the fanatics taking pics and some of the guys started chanting “If you all love Robyn clap your hands” which was rather embarrassing but nice. Dingo, Mongrel and Chunda sang the same version later that evening at the players party when I had my pic taken with them.
Pat then ran across the court and took his shirt off and threw it into the crowd, he then made that he was going to take his shorts off too and flashed his blue undies. I was up in the stands but managed to take some pics.
Although the whole team came onto the court after the win, they never did a victory lap or shouldered one of the team like they normally do. I guess it was a pretty easy win overall and Wayne and Todd should really have won the doubles on the Saturday.
The players party
The fanatics had dinner early as Woz had told us to get to the wine bar at 6pm. We met up with everyone at Vultures restaurant and had a coffee with Henry and some friends while the others headed up by Nev went to the wine bar. We joined them half an hour later.
Everyone was there so we were chatting and having a few drinks and then at about 8.30pm the players arrived which was very early. Pat and Lara walked in the door and when Lara saw me she came to talk to me. Pat came over soon after and we chatted about his hair. I had been tempted to bring a pair of scissors to ask for the first lock but chickened out. I wish I was more brazen sometimes lol Lleyton and Jaslyn were at the bar talking to Nev, they only stayed about half an hour and were off. Pat and Lara went to the back of the room and were joined by some of Tennis Australia where they stayed until closing, which was at 11pm.
As the night progressed everyone loosened up and at one stage “I go to Rio” was played and a lot of us formed a conga line that snaked around the room. Even Nicolas and Giovanni joined in. It was a lot of fun. I always thinks it’s great too when the other teams celebrates with us, like the Brazilians did in Brisbane. A few of the Eucadorian team were dancing with the Rafterbabblers.
Anyway after a lot of dancing and frivolity it was 11pm, time to shut. Woz had been speaking to someone of import earlier about how all the places shut at 11pm on Sunday night and he had offered the use of his premises (restaurant and cocktail lounge on the 33rd floor of some new building) When Woz mentioned how many of us there were, the guy sent a bus to pick us all up.
Anyway we soon arrived at this new place and it reminded me a bit of the Centrepoint revolving restaurant, great view of the city but $20 for a Scotch and Soda and strawberry daquiri!! Pat and Lara continued to keep to themselves and found a spot in the dark and they stayed there until they left when they came past me, I was just sitting there and they smiled and said a few words to me. Lara has the most gorgeous eyes. You know in photos and even on camera they look cold but up close in person they are so expressive, its really weird, the camera doesn't do her justice. She is also a lovely person and very down to earth. While Pat was standing there talking to me he took his hair out and it fell around his face, he looked wonderful. I know Kerrin has always wanted to have her pic taken with him so I asked him could I take a pic of him with Kerrin and he said "OK let's do it!" I bet it will be a gorgeous.
We spoke a lot with Pete and there were lots of pics taken with him so you will see some of these when Kerrin puts her pics up. I never take my camera to the players party, it’s too big to lug around. We also spoke with Andreas, Muddy, Killer, Fitzy and Wally and lots of other fanatics, it was a great evening.
The place on the 33rd floor closed by 3pm so we all left, we were one of the last to leave. We had said our goodbyes and it was rather sad farewelling some of our friends and also new friends that are always made at each Davis Cup we go to. This time we got to know Chunda, Mongrel and Dingo, they looked pretty fearsome with their warpaint on! Maria has flown back to Germany. I think Karin will be leaving Australia soon as well. Emily, Peta calls her the queue girl from the Australian Open, also joined us and had a wonderful time. Tamara leaves for Holland in three weeks and Deb and Mandyb flew back to their respective homes. As for our two favourite male fanatics, well Henry flew back to Sydney and may go to Brazil if he can work it and Nev went back to Darwin to see his parents before he flies out to India and Russia. Nev will be in Uzbekistan at DC time so won’t be able to make that one. I don’t think I’ll be going to Brazil but these days it’s just as much about meeting up with our fanatic mates as well as supporting the Aussie boys.
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