Summer’s here

The crowd swells. Shirts shimmer in the bright glare of the day. A Mexican wave rises, falls. Pimms, ice, strawberries, cream. The crack of a tinny. Banter ebbs and flows across the court. A sudden silence ushers in the serve and a pair of gods perform under blue skies in a divine and orchestrated flurry of activity, the metaphysics of their movement and timing betrayed by the sound of a grunt or shout. Heads turn in perfect unison, tracing the arc of the narrative of the point. Mouths open to shout their approval at its denouement. Screens replay small miracles in slow motion. Summer’s here – bright, loud, astonishing.

The Australian Open is more than one of the world’s greatest international events. It’s a nationally and locally revered institutuion, with over two thirds of its 800,000 visitors coming from Melbourne itself. It’s the height of summer, at home. 

Images by Mitchell Luo on Unsplash and Eddie Jim for Stokehouse’s Eton mess tennis-themed dessert.