Normally, we might have expected Whisper to have participated in the AO
pool, and most certainly he'd be telling us about his tournament
attendance experiences--you know, what matches he's seen, what
celebrities he's been glad-handing, and shuckin' 'n' jivin' with.

But this year: nothing...

Could he have fallen by the wayside, like Max and Iceberg, his bones
bleaching in the antipodes sun, by the billabong where he fell? Was he
sent to a brutal re-education camp, as I was a few years back?

Anyone have any ideas?
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Confidence: the food of the wise man and the liquor of the fool."

--Sawfish ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/20/2026 8:43 PM, Sawfish wrote:

Normally, we might have expected Whisper to have participated in the AO pool, and most certainly he'd be telling us about his tournament
attendance experiences--you know, what matches he's seen, what
celebrities he's been glad-handing, and shuckin' 'n' jivin' with.

But this year: nothing...

Could he have fallen by the wayside, like Max and Iceberg, his bones bleaching in the antipodes sun, by the billabong where he fell? Was he
sent to a brutal re-education camp, as I was a few years back?

Anyone have any ideas?

Last year he didn't post until after the Open.
--
---------------
Scall5

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Sawfish kirjoitti 21.1.2026 klo 4.43:

Normally, we might have expected Whisper to have participated in the AO pool, and most certainly he'd be telling us about his tournament
attendance experiences--you know, what matches he's seen, what
celebrities he's been glad-handing, and shuckin' 'n' jivin' with.

But this year: nothing...

Could he have fallen by the wayside, like Max and Iceberg, his bones bleaching in the antipodes sun, by the billabong where he fell? Was he
sent to a brutal re-education camp, as I was a few years back?

Anyone have any ideas?

Didn't he say that he will be travelling to AO this year?
Maybe he can't post on his phone.

Not that this place would be overflowing with analysis on AO matches...

Iceberg has sunk, Max has finally noticed that Steffi is not playing any
more & looks like a dude. Raja has been finally eaten by a tiger.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/21/26 2:57 AM, TT wrote:

Sawfish kirjoitti 21.1.2026 klo 4.43:

Normally, we might have expected Whisper to have participated in the
AO pool, and most certainly he'd be telling us about his tournament
attendance experiences--you know, what matches he's seen, what
celebrities he's been glad-handing, and shuckin' 'n' jivin' with.

But this year: nothing...

Could he have fallen by the wayside, like Max and Iceberg, his bones
bleaching in the antipodes sun, by the billabong where he fell? Was he
sent to a brutal re-education camp, as I was a few years back?

Anyone have any ideas?

Didn't he say that he will be travelling to AO this year?
Maybe he can't post on his phone.

Not that this place would be overflowing with analysis on AO matches...

Iceberg has sunk, Max has finally noticed that Steffi is not playing any more & looks like a dude. Raja has been finally eaten by a tiger.

Life's rough.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "...and your little dog, too!"
--Sawfish

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

I just got back yesterday after leaving Jan 1, jet lagged and
decompressing! All up did 4k km driving around. I can't access RST
from mobile need my desktop. Had a great time in Tasmania, Hobart and
AO tennis. Tassie is a true paradise, perfect climate, cleanest air on
earth, freshest food, and everyone genuinely happy and friendly. I'm
planning on living there for 3 months over summer for next few years to
get away from our oppressive summers.

Saw some brilliant tennis mostly from front 3 rows, including Alcaraz, Fonseca, Andreeva, Vekic, Ruud, Sakarri etc. Had front row for Emma
Raducanu in Hobart too. We were walking around Salamanca markets in
Hobart and I told my wife to keep an eye out for any tennis players,
bound to be some checking out the sights pre tournament. She has a good
eye for spotting faces and spotted Emma, walking around by herself no
disguise or security. Had to get a selfie : )



https://streamable.com/ty8sny





--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Carlos is a beast;


https://streamable.com/3udg28



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Sabalenka;


https://streamable.com/sd6m03


Someone yelled out 'love you Roger!' - I was there with Roger and Laver : )

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Vekic;

https://streamable.com/pbla6d



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Andreeva;


https://streamable.com/sg48tn



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Saw some brilliant tennis mostly from front 3 rows, including Alcaraz, Fonseca, Andreeva, Vekic, Ruud, Sakarri etc.

Actually going through my phone I got more matches than I thought eg
Coco, Demon, Pericard, Badosa, Venus, Cerundolo, plus about 50 players practicising lol, most of the stars - too many to post : )

The crowds were insane, 108k 1st day and didn't let up much. Lucky we
had reserved seats, hate to be queueing up;



https://streamable.com/ypkb81



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 24/01/2026 11:49 pm, Pelle Svansl”s wrote:

On 24.1.2026 14.31, Whisper wrote:

Vekic;

https://streamable.com/pbla6d

Best seat in the house.

Yep, front row section 1. They came up on resale late at night and I
grabbed them : )

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 24/01/2026 11:51 pm, Pelle Svansl”s wrote:

On 24.1.2026 14.39, Whisper wrote:

Andreeva;


https://streamable.com/sg48tn

Vekic looks tired. If I get the names on the scoreboard right, Andreeve
won.

Super stuff.

I was pleasantly surprised she won the 1st set, but ran out of gas. She
was taking the full 25 seconds and succeeded in annoying Mirra.
Andreeva is my pick to win the tournament, along with Carlos.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In article <6974b708$1@news.ausics.net>,
Whisper <whisper@ozemail.com.au> wrote:

Carlos is a beast;

https://streamable.com/3udg28

Nice video, thanks. Looks like he won the point :-)





--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Whisper kirjoitti 24.1.2026 klo 13.56:

I just got back yesterday after leaving Jan 1, jet lagged and
decompressing!ÿ All up did 4k km driving around.ÿ I can't access RST
from mobile need my desktop.ÿ Had a great time in Tasmania, Hobart and
AO tennis.ÿ Tassie is a true paradise, perfect climate, cleanest air on earth, freshest food, and everyone genuinely happy and friendly. I'm planning on living there for 3 months over summer for next few years to
get away from our oppressive summers.

Saw some brilliant tennis mostly from front 3 rows, including Alcaraz, Fonseca, Andreeva, Vekic, Ruud, Sakarri etc. Had front row for Emma
Raducanu in Hobart too.ÿ We were walking around Salamanca markets in
Hobart and I told my wife to keep an eye out for any tennis players,
bound to be some checking out the sights pre tournament.ÿ She has a good
eye for spotting faces and spotted Emma, walking around by herself no disguise or security.ÿ Had to get a selfie : )

https://streamable.com/ty8sny

Wow, sounds like a great tennis pilgrimage. Looking at your vids you
really had the best seats in the house. Awesome.

Finland is often quoted having the cleanest air in the world, especially Lapland... Tasmania is up there as well.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/24/2026 5:56 AM, Whisper wrote:

I just got back yesterday after leaving Jan 1, jet lagged and
decompressing!ÿ All up did 4k km driving around.ÿ I can't access RST
from mobile need my desktop.ÿ Had a great time in Tasmania, Hobart and
AO tennis.ÿ Tassie is a true paradise, perfect climate, cleanest air on earth, freshest food, and everyone genuinely happy and friendly. I'm planning on living there for 3 months over summer for next few years to
get away from our oppressive summers.

Saw some brilliant tennis mostly from front 3 rows, including Alcaraz, Fonseca, Andreeva, Vekic, Ruud, Sakarri etc. Had front row for Emma
Raducanu in Hobart too.ÿ We were walking around Salamanca markets in
Hobart and I told my wife to keep an eye out for any tennis players,
bound to be some checking out the sights pre tournament.ÿ She has a good
eye for spotting faces and spotted Emma, walking around by herself no disguise or security.ÿ Had to get a selfie : )

https://streamable.com/ty8sny

Awesome stuff!
--
---------------
Scall5

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Ruud was looking incredible, never seen him hit it this well on a
hardcourt. Lost a bit of weight and moving amazing;



https://streamable.com/ebeq4l





--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/25/26 2:34 AM, Whisper wrote:

Ruud was looking incredible, never seen him hit it this well on a
hardcourt.ÿ Lost a bit of weight and moving amazing;

https://streamable.com/ebeq4l

Were his sisters there?

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A mathematician dies in an air crash. What are his final words?

?Statistically, this shouldn?t be happening.?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)