From Nebraska to Melbourne: A trip of a lifetime

While the rest of us watched Australian Open matches late at night or in a rebroadcast the next day, Jennifer Heywood of Lincoln and Tammy Tegler of Eagle watched them in real time.

Tegler was Down Under for a family vacation and Heywood for her honeymoon. Both made sure they put the Australian Open on their itinerary during their three-week trip. Tegler attended three days of the tournament, and Heywood was there for five.

“I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible the tickets were,” Tegler said. “We could wait till the next day’s schedule came out to decide which matches we most wanted to watch and get tickets accordingly. My favorite matches were Shelton vs Carreno Busta and a Townsend/Siniakova doubles match.”

“We bought a package early on through a travel company, and it was really easy,” said Heywood, who watched more than 20 matches during her stint. “I really enjoyed all the doubles I was able to watch, but watching Coco, Sinner, de Minaur, Swiatek, Zverev, Paul and so many more stars was amazing.”

Like most big tennis tournaments the fans all share a common interest, and both Tegler and Heywood met many fellow tennis enthusiasts while in the stands. Heywood attended one match solo and never felt alone.

“Everyone was so kind and wonderful, and it was amazing to be among so many tennis fans—pros to novices,” she said. “It’s just a tennis fan’s dream to be surrounded by so much amazing tennis and be with so many other fans.”

Tegler added: “Amazingly, at one of the matches I went to, I sat down next to a couple from Omaha. And as we got to chatting, we had several people that we knew in common.”

In addition to the Australian Open, both spent time doing a lot of other fun things outside of tennis. Their advice to others making the trek? Plan ahead and stay a while since it’s such a long flight.

“Look at all that Australia and neighboring countries have to offer, and figure out what else you might want to do while you’re there,” Tegler said. “In addition to touring through parts of Australia, we went to New Zealand while we were there.”

“We traveled along the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide, Hamilton Island and Sydney all following the week in Melbourne,” Heywood said. “It was our honeymoon so we tried to make the most of it.”

Both women work at Lincoln’s Woods Tennis Center as well, so they made sure to represent the tennis facility while in Oz and met for a photo op. They in turn brought back lots of Australian Open merchandise, including hats, shirts, socks, water bottles and towels. One thing they both agreed on was it was a trip of a lifetime.