In the Tradition of Middle Earth...

I thought renaming places - even temporarily - was reserved for things like the premiere of the Lord of the Rings movies. (Remember when Wellington got renamed 'Middle Earth' for a week? I thought it was hilarious.) But no - apparently for the duration of the Australian Open next year, Federation Square is going to be called 'Tennis Square.'

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Unimaginative name (right along the lines of Garden Square Cafe getting renamed 'Player Cafe' after A FRIGGING COMPETITION for the best name) but I like the intent. Melbourne in January is going to be the tennis capital of the universe, and I like that there's a huge effort to make tennis cool for the general public and not just the nerds like me. Here's what the Tennis Australia article says:

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"For the duration of the Open, Channel Seven will broadcast tennis on the giant screen and an Australian Open merchandise store and NIKE outlet will be open.

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"Top players will make special appearances, and between Thursday 22 January and Sunday 25 January 2009 Tennis Australia will conduct a variety of free interactive tennis activities, including Aviva Tennis Hot Shots and Talent Search."

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Fun for all the family, basically. Get 'em into tennis while they're young, I say, and then they can grow up fabulous, like me.

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Hmmm. I'm going to be in Melbourne for the first five days of the Open. (Got my tickets yesterday! Am now poor!) Maybe I should swing past this so-called Tennis Square... especially if those star appearances include a certain player whose initials are RF...

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...or MS, for that matter...