All morning, rumors swirled around the tournament grounds, turned into a storm by spectators watching the matches while leafing through their news feeds and studying texts from friends and family.
After Andrews confirmed the worst of the rumors, a bottleneck formed in the corridors, with spectators leaving the stadium to call airlines to reschedule flights that passed through those still inside. Two fans, Lauren Grundeman and Belinda Brown, waited until Williams ended his fight to call Qantas Airways. Anticipating that flight schedules would be cut in the coming days because of the blockade, they wanted to postpone the trip back to Sydney and leave in a few hours.
“We’re too late,” said Grundeman. “All of today’s flights sold out half an hour ago.”
Grundeman and Brown considered themselves fortunate to secure seats for a return on Saturday afternoon. They did not regret coming. It was worth the trouble, they said, to see Williams approach a 24th Grand Slam singles title.
“Definitely,” said Brown. “Serena is incredible.”
Williams is a charismatic headliner, but the usual climate was lacking, said Grundeman, who regularly attends the Australian Open. The lines to enter, which are usually long, did not exist on Friday. There were no Swedes with national colors painted on their faces. No Dutch from head to toe in orange. Grundeman described the energy as “flat”.
The participation announced on Friday, on a day tailored to take advantage of the sun and world-class soil strikes, was 22,299. Many Melbourneians have said in interviews and letters to newspapers that they have resigned from this year’s event just in case. Brown said he couldn’t blame them.
“If I were a local, it would be a little bit like, we don’t need people to come and bring extra boxes,” she said.
Julie Dunlop got up before the sun and called her daughter. They held tickets for Friday’s session, but Dunlop was disconcerted by the news on television that a blockade – or “the dreaded L word,” as she called it – was imminent. Should they soak up the sun before they sneak into their homes? Or would it be prudent to stay away?