Dannii Minogue

Anyone for tennis?

It’s Australian Open tennis season Down Under and I don’t mind admitting that, until this year, my participation in tennis was strictly confined to the spectator seats in Rod Laver Arena. That is until Tennis Australia sent Ethan a mini tennis kit for Christmas!

It’s the equipment used in their Tennis HotShots participation program for kids – technically aged 10 and under - but over Christmas the adults took rather a shine to it and we’ve had two tennis nights since getting the kit!!!

I have no hand-eye coordination whatsoever so I never played tennis at school. In fact, I used to do everything in my power to get out of doing Phys Ed. But it all seems so much easier with the little racquets and the balls, which are low compression so they’re not as bouncy as normal tennis balls and are easier for little hands and eyes to coordinate hitting shots over the little net.

Don’t worry, we do let little Ethan and his two cousins have a go at the start of each tennis evening, but once they’re in bed out come the adults and there are racquets and balls flying everywhere. The other night Kris’ Mum Elsie and I took on Jacob and Anthony from J’Aton (both dressed in black jeans, black shirts and stack-heeled boots – what would predominantly-white Wimbledon say???) for four hours. It got so dark we had to put the lights on in the back garden!!!

My Grandmother is a big tennis fan so it was great to be able to bring her along to the Australian Open with me last year. Who knows, perhaps by next year she’ll be watching me play a starring role on centre court… Only if J’Aton will whip me up some tennis couture to wear for matches though!!!

Number of balls lost over the fence: at last count….three!