Australlian Open Men,s Final

Australian Open 2008 - Men's Final

3 exposures @ f/5.6
17mm
ISO-320
Nikon Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 lens on a Nikon D200

The final score of the Men's Final: Novak Djokovic defeated Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(2). It was a thriller of a match. If you look at the large version in the top right part of the court you might be able to see that Tsonga's last serve was 215 km/h! Yaa-ouch :)

To my delight this match was scheduled start at 7.30pm (twilight) in Rod Laver Arena. This was a prime opportunity to catch the majestic atmosphere of the stadium with the beautiful backdrop of a simple yet gorgeous sunset. To achieve the effect of having the sky in exposure as well as the crowd and court I took three handheld exposures and combined them using layer masks in Photoshop CS2. The process takes longer than an HDR type processing, but yields results. I have not found any online tutorials describing this technique but I am sure there would be some out there.

In one of the most lop-sided finals ever, Williams routed the third-seeded Russian, allowing her challenger to win only eight points in the first set on her way to claiming the championship in just 59 minutes.

With this victory, Williams now moves to the top of the world rankings, replacing Serbian Jelena Jankovic.

“I’m so excited … I clearly love playing here and I get great support here. I don’t get that every place I go,” said the 27-year-old after winning the match.

Safina apologized to the Melbourne Park crowd after the game, saying that she had felt little more than a ballboy in the face of Williams’ offensive.

“Sorry to the people who supported me, today I let you down a little bit but I’ll come back next year and try and do better,” the Russian said.

Read more: http://dailycontributor.com/serena-slams-safina-in-australian-open-final/3276/#ixzz1RqiKxzlG
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial

Roger Federer wins the 2007 Australian Open 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 against Fernando Gonzalez, its deja vu. This years Australian Open would bring Roger Federer onto the centre court against the 10^th seed Chilean Fernando Gonzalez. In their previous encounters, Federer has a 9-0 match statistic against Gonzalez, however the critics expected this match up to be very different given Fernando Gonzalez’s form coming into the Australian Open 2007 grand slam final.
Asia Pacific's only Grand Slam event ... and everyone's favourite………the Australian Open is set to serve up a feast of tennis action from Monday 17th January!

The superstars of the tennis world descend upon Melbourne, prepare yourself for 2 weeks of electric charged tennis action, steaming temperatures and hot bodies!

Metro Apartments on Bank Place, Melbourne still has some rooms available including the Men's and Women's Finals but they are selling fast so book today so you don't miss out.

You can choose from two, three, five or seven night stays in either a studio or one bedroom apartment.
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Lukas Lacko (SVK) v. Roger Federer (SUI)[2]
Rod Laver Arena 7:00 PM Start Time
1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)[21] v. Jarmila Groth (AUS)
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Marcel Granollers (ESP) v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]
Hisense Arena 11:00 AM Start Time
1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Thiemo de Bakker (NED) v. Gael Monfils (FRA)[12]
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Andy Roddick (USA)[8] v. Jan Hajek (CZE)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Venus Williams (USA)[4] v. Sara Errani (ITA)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Justine Henin (BEL)[11] v. Sania Mirza (IND)
Margaret Court Arena 11:00 AM Start Time
1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) v. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[6]
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[28] v. Regina Kulikova (RUS)
3. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE) v. Jelena Dokic (AUS)
4. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Peter Luczak (AUS) v. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)[17]
Margaret Court Arena 7:00 PM Start Time
1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Rainer Schuettler (GER) v. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[9]
Show Court 2 11:00 AM Start Time
1. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL) v. Sam Querrey (USA)[18]
2. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Na Li (CHN)[9] v. Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Tomas Berdych (CZE)[6] v. Marco Crugnola (ITA)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Kathrin Woerle (GER) v. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[8]
Show Court 3 11:00 AM Start Time
1. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) v. Olivia Rogowska (AUS)
2. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Mardy Fish (USA)[16] v. Victor Hanescu (ROU)
3. Men's Singles - 1st Round
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[19] v. Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)
4. Women's Singles - 1st Round
Alison Riske (USA) v. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[23