Shanked Balls and Double Faults
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 9:41AM 
Laura Robson wears a discrete rainbow hair tie to show her support
Kait O'Callahan is a contributing writer for OnTheGoTennis. She is currently at the Australian Open with her brother and will be sharing her stories from the matches they attend.
It's already hot when we turn up for our first match. The wind is blowing strong and it looks like we are in for a day of shanked balls and double faults. It certainly starts that way as we tune in for Frederick Nielson and Kevin Anderson. Nielson, who we developed a soft spot for during his Hopman Cup choke loss to Gasquet, has fought his way through qualifying and been rewarded with a match against the man who donated a huge chunk of his first ATP title's prize money to saving rhinos. Anderson is too good for Nielson, and we leave after the first set.
A Russian woman is seated in front of us, playing with the pearls dangling from her neck. Her matching earrings and expensive looking black dress stand out amongst the masses of t-shirts and denim shorts. She flits on her high heels towards the shade every few games. It's hot work being that glamourous. She's there to watch Nikolay Davydenko, who appears to be playing well against the very defensive Flavio Cipolla. Unfortunately, that all changes when up two sets up to one, Davydenko begins to tire, and eventually loses in five. It's a disappointing first round exit for a man who used to be world number four. We wonder if it is the last time we will see Davydenko live.
