Tsonga comes to ball girl's aid
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came to the aid of a ball girl in distress and won accolades from fans who called him a gentleman. The No. 9-seeded Frenchman said he noticed that the ball girl was unwell during the third set of his match, so he paused before serving and walked over to see what was wrong. He put his hand on her back, and the ball girl handed Tsonga a ball she was holding. He then looped his arm through hers and escorted the ball girl off the court. "I saw she was in trouble," Tsonga said. "It was normal to help her out of the stadium. I hope she's OK." The ball girl was fine, just feeling under the weather, according to tournament organisers.
Venus fined $5k
After her surprise first round loss on Tuesday, Venus Williams chose to skip the mandatory press-conference thus incurring a $5,000 fine — the most for a female player. This is also the second highest since Russian Marat Safin was fined $10,000 at the 2001 French Open. On Tuesday, No. 8-seeded Williams trudged off Rod laver Arena after her surprising 6-4, 6-3 loss to Johanna Konta, a British player making her debut in the Grand Slam's main draw.
Bouchard mixes US and Canada!
Eugenie Bouchard compared her new tennis dress with a national flag - but chose the wrong one. The 21-year-old Canadian described her lightweight tank dress for the Australian Open as having "red and white stripes like an American flag or something." Then she paused. "Actually, red and white like Canada, I should say. Whoops!"
Fed doesn't want to be a tennis dad
Roger Federer says his 6-year-old twin daughters, Myla and Charlene, have started taking tennis lessons, but he doesn't necessarily hope they follow in his footsteps someday. "I'm happy if they won't end up being on this court, actually," Federer said. "I'd rather support them in another sport. Go see them be a super skier. That would be exciting." Part of the reason is he can't see himself sitting in the player's box watching his daughters' matches after he retires. "I think it's 40 years on the tennis tour that doesn't excite me, you know," he said with a laugh. "I will support them all the way whatever they want to do, but I don't see myself doing that right now.
Rain delays day 3 proceedings
Rain caused a slight delay on day three, as the start of the play at the Australian Open was delayed by an hour on Wednesday. Due to light rain falling at Melbourne Park, the start of play on side courts was delayed on Wednesday. Due to the downpour, the matches which was scheduled to start at 5 am eventually kick started an hour later. In the meantime, the ball boys and girls were sponging the courts off. Melbourne Park has three stadiums with retractable roofs - Rod laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena. Play began as scheduled on those courts, including the opening match on Rod laver between fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich.