Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
Wow… what a week it’s been. First off, this post is coming to you from Australia, which is crazy to me considering I swore I would never return after ringing in the New Year in 2020 in Sydney. So here I am, mentally preparing for this 14 hour flight back to The States and what better way than to recap the past week.
If you are a tennis person, then you know exactly why I am here — if not from the 100+ Instagram posts and Tiktoks, then from the timing alone. January is the start of a new tennis season and the first grand slam of the year. There are four major tournaments in professional tennis and we call them grand slams — slams for short. If a player wins each of the four tournaments in their career, the achievement is called a “career grand slam” but if they do it in a row, it’s called a “calendar grand slam.” Additionally, on Olympic years, if you win a gold medal in addition to the slams, then the achievement is a “golden slam.” It’s relevant, I promise!
So these terms are among hardest achievements a professional tennis player can accomplish, but as a fan, we like to collect the slams as well. For a lot of people, this is just not a possibility. Fans don’t always live in any of the four major cities that host the slams, or it’s too expensive or difficult to get tickets. Some of these tournaments are so exclusive that you can’t just wake up one day and expect to get tickets. I mean you can, but not for cheap! So from a tennis point of view, I am a complete and utter spoiled brat. Let’s be serious, maybe not just in tennis hahaha.
My grandparents were bad assess and some of the best tennis players Mexico has ever had. Both are inducted into the Mexican Tennis Hall of Fame and my grandma won two slams in doubles and mixed. They traveled around the world by boat (lmao what??) and hung out with the likes of Arthur Ashe and Rod Laver — again, lmao what? To me, they were just my grandparents. I honestly forgot about their accomplishments a lot of the times but now, my friends introduce me like this:
This is Marnie Perez Ochoa, her grandmother won the French Open twice in doubs and mixed. Look her up on Wikipedia!
I don’t love it because it’s not how I would introduce myself, but at the same time it makes me incredibly proud to be part of their bloodline. Though, our family joke is that the talent gets worse with each generation. At this rate, my future kids won’t even be able to hold a tennis racquet.
So back to the slams — because my grandparents did so well back in the day, they each were inducted into “The Last 8 Club” or “Final 8 Club” which is for the last 8 players or doubles teams remaining in the tournament each year. They did so well at all of the slams that my grandma belongs to all four Last 8s and my grandpa belonged to the Last 8 in Paris. Oh, that’s the other thing. The tournaments are across the globe — we start in Melbourne, Australia in January, head to Paris, France at the end of May, over to London, United Kingdom for Wimbledon in July and end it at Flushing Meadows in New York City in The States. Because of this Last 8 Club thing, we were able to get free tickets to the tournaments, which made it way more feasible to attend.
As you know, I was born in Mexico and traditionally, girls have a huge party for their 15th birthday, the quinceañera. Around that time, I wasn’t super interested in having a party and so instead, my grandparents offered to take me to Wimbledon. Fair, right? Originally, the retractable roof on Centre Court at Wimbledon was scheduled to be completed the year I turned 13 so they took me to celebrate being a teenager. However, the roof wouldn’t be completed until 2 years later, and so we had to again for my quinceañera. Not your average quinceañera, right? It was so much better than any party could be at that age.
Wimbledon is universally agreed to be the best tournament in the world. It is elegant, exquisite, traditional, extravagant, luxurious, and all the similar adjectives you can think of. Because of all of this, it is also more difficult to get tickets to go. And when I say get tickets, I generally mean like get tickets that you want. Sure, you can get a grounds pass or a shitty stadium seats, but like I said, I am a spoiled brat and that will simply not suffice! Wimbledon is actually known to have this super long line called “the queue” and people camp out to try to buy tickets. Crazy!
You could say that 13-year-old Marnie was off to a good start on going to all of the slams. With Wimbledon off the list, I knew I had to figure out a way to get to Paris for Roland Garros. It’s the place where my grandmother and grandfather did the best, it’s in fucking Paris! We knocked this one off our list next and suddenly I only had two more to go. Paris was stunning and I liked it more than I expected. Because my grandma is a former champion, she gets treated like the queen that she is, and we get the car service, great seats, access to the lounges, etc. The best part, to be completely honest with you, was my grandpa getting up early to pick up fresh croissants every morning so we could have warm croissants when we woke up. What a king! Except we each ate two croissants a day for fourteen days… you do the math. We basically broke the scale when we got home, which wasn’t fair because he would eat three a day and lose weight.
Life went on and I didn’t really think much about the other two slams. I was playing college tennis and feeling burnt out from tennis. I moved to New York City upon graduation and didn’t even bring my racquet or tennis shoes. My mom had to ship them to me a few months later hahaha. But once I was in NYC, I knew I had to get to the US Open. I kind of didn’t want to go because I knew after the treatment we received at Wimbledon and the French, I was never going to love the other tournaments but they’re all so different and that’s what makes them so special. A lot of my friends are in the tennis industry and I don’t know how but tickets appear from thin air during the US Open, so I’ve been super lucky to go multiple times, even if it wasn’t as luxurious as the other experiences. The US Open is such a fun time and honestly, I think I take it for granted because it’s so close to my apartment. No need to suffer through a 16 hour flight or whatever to get to the courts, just have to slum it on the train or sit in traffic for an hour. Still sucks, but nowhere near as bad.
After going to the Us Open for the first time, it still didn’t dawn on me that I was one slam away. Australia just seemed so far both physically and mentally. Like it didn’t even register as an option and it wasn’t until recently that it sort of did. I went to Australia for 2020 New Years and I was only there for less than a week, so the timing didn’t align with the tournament, which starts mid-January. It felt weird an almost wrong to be so close, yet so far away. I was certain I would never return but that was until I lost my job.
I couldn’t get out of bed most days and I didn’t want to, honestly. Being laid off was embarrassing for no reason because so many people were impacted, but it still hurt my ego. I still get embarrassed when I think about that day even now, but I’m getting better. I spent what seemed like a year (4 days) licking my wounds and gathering myself. Once I started to look past the shittyness of it all, I realized that the timing could not be more perfect. I mean, let me just say it was not awesome for it to happen the week before Thanksgiving and the day before I was going to Mexico to see my grandma and my childhood best friend’s wedding. But all things considered, being laid off gave me the freedom to travel — my favorite thing to do in the world. I went to Mexico for almost three weeks and spent some quality time with my friends and my family. In the past, I would always take the earliest flight there and the latest possible flight home to maximize my days off and I would almost always get sick when I got back because I would just run myself ragged (party my face off). This time was different in the sense that I could go and be carefree and still party my face off, without having to worry about working or getting back to work. I hope I never get laid off again, but I’m glad that it afforded me the luxury of time with my grandma.
After planning my trip to Mexico, I realized that I was probably not going to have a job before February. So naturally, I had to find something to do in January. I called my mom and told her I had a crazy idea, fully expecting her to tell me to chill out and stay home. But she didn’t — this was YOUR fault, mom! (PS - IYKYK #top5) Suddenly, I had my flight to Australia and then it was just time to pack.
I am such a bitch when it comes to traveling. Like I love to travel but I hate flying. That sounds so dumb, but you know what I mean, don't even lie. One of my best friends lives in LA now and it was my turn to go visit her so I decided to fly to Australia from LA so I could see her and so I could fly with Delta the whole way, because #miles. I spent 3 and a half days connecting with her and it was one of those things that just made me feel so fulfilled. It’s hard to make those kind of friends as you grow up so I really value my friendship with her. I lived out my fit LA girlie dreams and then mentally prepared, or tried to at least, for the flight to Aussieland.
I don’t know that anything could have prepared me for that nightmare of a flight. Between the turbulence and the dumb ass people in front of me who would not stop talking the entire flight, I was miserable. I also had omakase before the flight and passed out before we even took off, so I slept through two meals. Like they couldn’t have woken me up? Or left me a little snack? Damn. TBH, maybe it’s a good thing because airplane food is never good. One of the meals was like butter chicken or curried chicken which I thought was a bold choice for a confined space like an AIRPLANE but what do I know?
ANYWAY… Australia was amazing despite never knowing what day it was or knowing where to find good food. The tournament is dubbed the “happy slam” and for good reason. The vibes were immaculate. People love the tennis, but people come to have a good time. I thought that the grounds were well spread out, like not too far but not smushed together. The tickets were outrageous… in a good way. They were so cheap compared to the other slams and because of the exchange rate, I felt like I was saving money when I bought stuff. #GirlMath
After the first day I got back to our Airbnb and as I laid in bed, exhausted and jet lagged, I couldn’t help but smile. The last slam on the list was just crossed off. I did something that the average tennis fan can’t really do and I felt truly blessed. I don’t really ever use that term but that’s how I felt. I felt so fulfilled and inspired. I’ve had a tumultuous relationship with tennis, to say the least, and over the past few years, I’ve played less and less. After this tournament, I feel my passion for tennis reignited. I can’t wait to play when I get home. I can’t wait to switch racquets and get new tennis outfits. I can’t wait to strike the ball and paint the lines again. I love how sports can do that. I hope others feel this way because if not, you’re probably reading this thinking wtf is she talking about?
I feel like I’ve rambled. Let’s wrap this up with some of the highlights of the trip and I’ll insert some pics.
#5: Getting quoted for an ESPN Article opposing Tsitsipas & Micky Winning the First Rd
I was with Steph when this happened and we were just minding our business at this court that has this new bar on the side of it. It’s hard to explain but it’s an outer court and there are regular stands on one side and then a massive like bar/terrace on the other and it’s called “The Courtside Bar.” It features signature drinks and live DJ sets. We were sitting on the top level so I really couldn’t hear the music or anything and we were watching my friend Micky play doubles against the Tsitsipas brothers. Suddenly some random man comes up to us and says he’s a reporter for AP and wants to interview us. The people in front of us were so annoyed because we were talking but I think they were just jealous. Plus it was noisy over there anyway. BFFR!! So we do the interview, and continue watching. Everyone was rooting for the other team and I’m going nuts for Micky, because he’s my friend and he’s from Mexico. They end up winning and we are so happy and go on with our day. Go home and go to sleep and wake up to a bunch of messages from our friends with screenshots of our quotes in the article and links to the piece. I was still half asleep to really even realize what had happened, but the article was on freaking ESPN! LMAO, that was so bizarre.
#4: The return of Naomi Osaka
I’m going to get so roasted for this because I have been pretty vocal about not loving Osaka but I was genuinely so happy and inspired to see her back on the court. Her outfit was by far the best thing that Nike put out for this tournament and idk how but I need to figure out how to get the jacket she walked out in! It was so nice to see her come back after having a baby. A lot of times we ignore the fact that women have to make sacrifices in their careers to fulfill their dreams of starting a family and not that long ago, having a baby on tour was a death sentence. Now it’s just normal — nice to see Osaka, Svitolina and the other moms out on tour.
#3: AO followed me and Duolingo made my video go viral
This was the most random and funniest thing ever. First, the ESPN article. Then the Australian Open account followed me and commented on my video. You should follow that account because they are posting fun/funny videos. And then I was at the Anisimova/Badosa match, which was a great storyline because both of these women had been off the tour for the better part of last year and it was nice that their comeback was off to a good start. They are both top level ball strikers and I was so excited to watch, but I looked over in the middle of the first set when the drama was starting, and this woman had her Duolingo app open and she was doing a lesson. So if you don’t know what Duolingo is (it has come to my attention that not a lot of my friends knew…) it’s this app that helps you learn a new language and their icon is this animated owl. The Duolingo social media team is killing it because they post videos with this owl to all the trends and their content is just hilarious and unhinged. They have over 8 million followers and it’s a very popular app because it’s free — well there are paid options but still it’s super accessible. They are known for having this widget on the home page that reminds you to do your lesson every day and they call it your Duolingo Streak. As the day goes by, the icon of the owl is always changing to show how upset or frustrated it is that you haven’t done your lesson for the day.
So the joke of the tiktok was that this woman HAD to get her lesson in right then and there so she wouldnt lose her streak. The comments on the video are freaking hilarious and it started going viral while I was sleeping. So I woke up to a zillion messages with these unhinged comments about duolingo. It was so silly and also it was such a raw video. I didn’t even edit it or anything. It’s always the simplest things that go viral, I swear.
#2: Anisimova is SO back!
I have absolutely loved Amanda Anisimova since she first came on tour. She has the cleanest groundstrokes I have ever seen and the most beautiful backhand. Her father passed away and she took some time off the tour and I honestly didn’t know if she would ever be back. Luckily for me, she came back and made a big run here in Australia this year. She took out the 13th seed in the first round and it was also the very first match we saw at the tournament. I was lucky enough to see all of her matches, both good and bad. She thumped her second round opponent and then beat Paula Badosa in a match of epic ball striking. Unfortunately, she came up short against the defending champ, another one of my favorites, Aryna Sabalenka. But what a cool experience so see her again. I saw her in Paris a few years ago when she shook the tennis world. Can’t wait to see more of her, she is def going to win a slam at some point.
#1: Dila and her partner come back to win in 3 sets!
One of my friends plays on the doubles tour and her name is Dila. She is from Indonesia and I met her through my Indonesian doubles partner from college because they are sister in laws. I’ve watched Dila play from her college days all the way to the pro tournaments across the world. This time, I got to see her compete in Australia and though her and her partner lost in the third set of their first round, she still had mixed. Mixed doubles has a much smaller draw and it doesn’t feel as serious as singles or even regular doubles. While she was gutted to have lost the doubles match, she had managed to get a great partner for mixed, Michael Venus, a top men’s doubles player. My mom and I were waiting all day for their match and they actually got to play on court 6, which is the court with the bar and DJ. Michael Venus is from New Zealand so there were a lot of fans there to cheer him on. The atmosphere was electric, but quickly dampened by them losing the first set pretty quickly. My mom had to go to the bathroom and I told her to just wait because this match was going to be over any minute now. Wrong! They turned the set around and pushed it to a third set. Not before Michael hit the guy opponent square in the nuts! I don’t know how bad that hurts for obvious reasons, but that guy was in PAIN. They ended up winning in the third set tie breaker and coming back from the brink of death to pull out the win made it that much more special. Dila gave me the sweetest (and sweatiest) hug after the match. I think she likes it when I’m there because I’m loud and obnoxious in a good way hahaha. Or so I like to think. It was just so special watching with my mom because we know what the other is thinking without even speaking. I mean we’re not twins, but we do look exactly the same and I swear our minds are connected. She knows how superstitious I am and she knew not to change positions until they won. She knows when to talk to me and when to leave me alone. It’s a connection that I don’t have with anyone so to share this moment was so special. She knows how much I love and support Dila and because of that she loved and supported Dila just as hard. I love sharing moments like this with her and I will never forget this experience.
Well I’ve been writing for what I’m certain is too long, so I’ll end it here. What an amazing experience. I feel so happy and grateful to have had the opportunity to go. Thank God for being laid off :P
Xoxo
Marn
