I met the world’s 128th ranked women’s tennis player today. Melanie South from England is hoping to get her ranking down to 110 to enter the main draw of the Australian Open.

She’s a nice young lady and I hope she makes it.

She also has a powerful forehand that I couldn’t hope to return.

The Mount Gambier Blue Lakes International Women’s International Tennis Tournament is on at the moment.

It’s part of the satellite circuit where players need points as much as dollars.

I like playing tennis, but I’ve never fancied it as a spectator sport. Watching it courtside, like I did today though, gives it a new meaning.

The girls have a lot of power and the ball really zings, so I can imagine what the men must be like to watch.

My first and only visit to an Australian Open was in 1981 at Kooyong on grass when South African Johan Kriek won. He was a controversial winner, being South African during the apartheid era, and the Australian Open was not attracting all of the world’s best players at that time.

My own tennis consists of a good volley and that’s about it. The volley was inherited from years of playing squash.

I have a good first serve, when it gets in, but it normally misses. My backhand isn’t bad, but I can’t strike a good forehand, possibly because of my squash training.

I was in awe of Melanie’s forehands today; just massive they were.

Getting onto the topic of this post, Melanie’s mum sent me an email this week saying she had stumbled across my site while searching for Mount Gambier.

We’ve exchanged a few emails since and, as a result, I was barracking for (supporting) Melanie in the quarter final today.

She won and I hope to see her win again tomorrow in the semi-final.

The internet has brought me into contact with an English tennis player and her mum. It also brought me into contact with a journalist who is writing about my family’s military history.

It really is a small world.