A Very Soggy Apia International

As the new year starts, most people spiral into a pit of depression in the UK. There are the bleak winter months to get through, we've all just binged our way through the festive season, and on top of that we're all in the process of setting ourselves up with unrealistic New Year resolutions which we know we're ultimately going to fail at.

But not in Australia, oh no! In the southern hemisphere it’s the height of summer, which means long hot days followed by warm blissful evenings and weeks on end of glorious sunshine in picture perfect settings… right? WRONG!

I've literally never experienced rainfall like that of the Australian summer. And I’m British - I know my rain! Gone are the days of camping trips in the beautiful English countryside, sheltering and shivering inside your tent and mumbling something along the lines of "I wish we lived in Australia where it’s all sunshine and beaches". Now I know it’s all a massive con. All these years I've thought us Brits had it bad - how misled we were! Rain here is apocalyptic. It’s either nice weather or it’s the end of the world. The streets turn to rivers and wind becomes your umbrella's worst nightmare.

Anyway, January in Australia is where the tennis year kicks off – which means not only is it the month of the Australian Open, but it's also a month packed with smaller warm-up ATP and WTA tournaments. So as a treat to myself, a friend and I booked tickets to the men's final of the APIA International in Sydney, and were both pretty chuffed that we could, a – afford the tickets in the first place, and b – were actually attending a final! Dream come true! Right? WRONG!

On the day of the finals the weather report showed showers.But that was okay, we are British after all. We know how to handle rain delays. But for the past few weeks, the weather had been what we Brits like to refer to as 'changeable'. Showers were forecast pretty much every day but actually experiencing them was hit-and-miss.

We arrived at the grounds early – where everything was already soggy from the earlier showers – and the rain pretty much kicked in straight away. Heavy drizzle. Fantastic! For anyone who has ever attended a tennis event, you’ll know that there is nowhere to shelter from the elements. Rain or shine, it's either the overhanging stands of a show court (flashback to Wimbledon) or the on-site shop (flashback to Wimbledon again) that provide protection.

An hour of sheltering went by before an announcement came: play had been suspended due to the rain but they were hoping to start the match within than half hour. So we filled the gap by getting something to eat. But that half an hour turned into an hour. Then an hour and a half. Then the rain stopped! Eagerly taking our seats in the stadium, we settled ourselves in and… then I witnessed one of the most bizarre rituals I've ever come across at a tennis event.

Now, I have only ever attended grass-court or indoor tournaments prior to this, so maybe this isn’t odd at all, but I can’t help but think there must be a better way to dry a court…

Step 1: Give the ball boys/girls a towel each

Step 2: Line them up

Step 3: Get them to drag their towel across the length of the court 2 or 3 times

Step 4: Enlist the help of the linesmen and arm them with leaf-blowing machines

Step 5: Get them to wonder around to court drying out remaining puddles

Strange, non? Would covers of some form not be easier? I realise this clearly isn’t the case – my faith is in the hundreds of tennis professionals that work at these tournaments and venues – it just all seemed a little bit time-consuming considering the situation.

Anyway - so the court was dry. The players were about to come out… and then there was another heavy downpour. After which, the drying process was repeated. And again. And again. Life became a bit like groundhog day. Rain. Bizarre drying ritual. Rain. Bizarre drying ritual. Rain. Bizarre drying ritual. I witnessed it happen 4 times. And then play was cancelled for the day. BRILLIANT!

I had moved to the other side of the world, where the Tourism Australia ads PROMISED year-round sunshine, only to find that it’s actually just as rainy (if not more) than England, And tennis events here not only get suspended due to rain, they also get fully cancelled.

So off we trudged – getting soaked by the rain (neither of us had an umbrella) and piling into a freezing bus (air-con was up full whack as it’s summer – there appears to be a rule that during summer, no matter how hot or cold it is, air con is always on!) that would take us back to the station. Game over.

Fortunately we were given the option of returning the next day. Neither of us could attend so we opted for a refund instead. And what was the first thing I did when I got home? Google the dates for next year's tournament of course! I will not be defeated...