Category: Greek/Australian

While Lleyton Hewitt laboured in vain on centre court, the Aussie teenagers slated to replace him withstood the microwave conditions, some injury concerns and their tender years to win their first matches at the Australian Open.

Nick Kyrgios and his friend Thanasi Kokkinakis emphatically redeemed the Australian effort on a Tuesday when others were either being swatted like flies – as in James Duckworth v Roger Federer – were shaded in the heat like Hewitt and Storm Sanders (beaten in a tight three-setter by Italian Camila Giorgi), or melting down like Marinko Matosevic.

Kyrgios rallied following a medical timeout for his shoulder and outlasted plucky German veteran Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), while Kokkinakis likewise recovered from the twin setbacks of losing the second set 6-0 and leg problems that he later said were cramps to overcome Dutchman Igor Sijsling in four sets 7-6 (7-4), 0-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

Nick Kyrgios keeps his eyes on the ball during his match against Benjamin Becker on Tuesday. Photo: Pat Scala

The teenage pair – described by Davis Cup coach Josh Eagle as the most capable twosome this country has produced in a decade – beat players ranked 81 (Becker) and 73 (Sijsling) in results that suggest that the long dormant men’s division of Australian tennis could be on the turn, and that Bernard Tomic – fortunately – is far from the only hope of the side.

That the emerging teenage pair managed to overcome ailments and that Tomic forfeited his mismatch, invites further harsh comparisons. Kokkinakis will play Tomic’s opponent, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, on Thursday.

Kyrgios, a Canberra product who won the Australian Open juniors this time last year, showed both his formidable arsenal – particularly a frightening serve – and a willingness to scrap. At various stages, the 18-year-old seemed close to crumbling, under the burdens of the heat and a shoulder that saw him call for the trainer when down a break early in the fourth set. He had missed the lead-in events in Brisbane and Sydney due to shoulder soreness.

Australian Open Tennis Day 2

Andreas Seppi celebrates his win over Lleyton Hewitt during Day 2 of the Australian Open. Photo: Pat Scala

Kokkinakis, just 17 and from Adelaide, recovered brilliantly from the second-set rout and, like Kyrgios, showed a fair measure of mettle and self-confidence in the key moments – such as the decisive third-set tie-breaker. Both kids enjoyed their victories on the same showcourt three, with Kokkinakis, who played the late match, completing a lap of the court in which he high-fived the whole front row.

Whereas Kyrgios played before a crowd of 300-400 that had been muted by the intensity of the sun, the numbers swelled somewhat for Kokkinakis – a belated bandwagon materialising as the ferocious sun set.

Kokkinakis’ victory was a case of winning the points that mattered; he won two tie-breakers, broke serve three times from a mere five opportunities, while saving five of the nine break points he faced. If he did not win as many ”free” points on serve as his doubles partner Kyrgios, he fared better in the rallies.

Kyrgios sent down 34 aces and won more than 90 per cent of the points when he landed the first serve – peak velocity of 215km/h. He converted six of his eight break points.

Kyrgios appeared to be both in some pain and at pains to avoid a fifth set, which might have favoured the seasoned Becker – a 178-centimetre veteran clearly not related to booming Boris. The Aussie teenager’s serve had been slowing, along with his legs, but late in the fourth set he resolved to attack and attempt a quick kill. ”I thought it would be smart to get it worked on,” said Kyrgios of his shoulder.

He viewed this victory as more satisfying than his first-round win at the French Open against Radek Stepanek.

The shoulder, he added, should be fine for his second-round encounter with 27th seed Benoit Paire, of France.

Kyrgios was impressive when breaking back at 5-6 in that fourth set and then by routing Becker in the tie-breaker.

Standing 193 centimetres, Kyrgios’ arsenal includes a forehand that can be pretty potent and a two-handed backhand.

It’s unclear how quickly he covers the court, since no one was moving too quickly in mid to late afternoon, but he has the loose limbs of a basketballer. His volley was seldom seen.

The Kyrgios/Kokkinakis combination of Greek heritage, large or very large serves and height has drawn comparisons with Mark Philippoussis, long seen as a great under-achiever, but in view of our struggles to penetrate the top 30, would be celebrated as a success today.

Whether they come up short or surpass Philippoussis, the teenager pair have undoubtedly given Australian tennis a timely fillip.

The latest is beleaguered ­Victorian parliamentary Speaker Ken Smith who announced he will not re-contest the next election, citing family ­reasons.

“Over the past 25 years I am proud to have served as a member of the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council and ­Legislative Assembly under the leadership of premiers Jeff Kennett, Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine,” Mr Smith said in a statement on Monday.

He did not say if he would continue in his role as Speaker, which has recently been plagued by controversy.

Mr Smith was responsible for ­referring rogue Frankston MP Geoff Shaw to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee over alleged misuse of his parliamentary vehicle.

Victoria Police cleared Mr Shaw of all charges last month.

Mr Smith came under fire last year when Mr Shaw, who holds the balance of power in the Lower House, accused the Speaker of not doing enough to ­protect him from protesters outside Parliament House.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews accused Mr Smith of bias and has called for him to step down immediately and be replaced by Deputy Speaker ­Christine Fyffe.

It was revealed last week that Mr Smith was facing a challenge in his safe Liberal seat of Bass from 27-year-old Aaron Brown.

Mr Brown is an agricultural scientist and son of former Liberal state leader Alan Brown.

Monash University professor Nick Economou said the Victorian coalition didn’t resemble a first term government with the high number of departing senior members. “The amount of ­resignations shows the government is disintegrating and this puts voters off,” Dr Economou said.

“It’s an electoral risk to undertake, what they are calling a renewal of the party in your first term as government. The number of incumbent candidates for the party is not a good look in the eyes of the electorate and usually the large number of resignations before an election is because they think the party is going to be defeated.”

On Sunday, Energy Minister ­Nicholas Kotsiras announced he would resign from his safe Liberal seat, paving the way for Planning Minister Matthew Guy to move to the Lower House.

This follows former minister Andrew McIntosh and Liberal power broker Philip Davis both announcing their resignations last year.

Dr Napthine said he would meet with the deputy premier and leader of the Nationals, Peter Ryan, once the party’s preselections had concluded before a decision was made on reshuffling the cabinet.

Temperatures will top 40 degrees in many parts of NSW this week.

Towns beyond the Great Dividing Range are likely to experience extreme heat as early as Monday.

Residents in Sydney’s western suburbs might be tempted to head to the beach by mid-week, with the mercury in Penrith expected to hit the high 30s from Wednesday.

Leap of faith: Members of the Greek community keep their cool during the Orthodox Church’s celebration of the Epiphany. Photo: Dean Sewell

Respite from the heat won’t be felt until Saturday, when there will be a cooler southerly change.

Weatherzone meteorologist Sam Brown said those on the coast will be spared record temperature highs, with sea breezes keeping temperatures down.

Temperatures for the Australian Open in Melbourne will be about 40 from Tuesday to Friday.

Sydney’s beaches were packed on Sunday. Several thousand members of Sydney’s Greek community turned out for the Greek Orthodox Church’s celebration of Epiphany at La Perouse.

The event is capped by the holy cross event, this year taken out by Theodore Pasialis, who was the first of 150-odd young men to retrieve a cross thrown into the water.

The West Australian

As the cross arced upwards from the priest’s hand and splashed into the Swan River, the crowd of young men rushed forward.

Dozens from the Greek Orthodox Christian faith plunged into the water at Matilda Bay Reserve to retrieve the Holy Cross, as part of the annual Epiphany Day celebrations.

Jason Saldaris was jubilant to retrieve the cross – seen as a great blessing – surfacing with it in hand and kissing it before bringing it ashore.

Greek Orthodox parish priest Father Elpidios Karalis, who hosted the annual Blessing of the Waters at Matilda Bay yesterday, said Mass attendance at Church was “stable”.

“There’s always room for improvement,” he said. “You see people on feast days, at Easter, at Christmas, but not everyone comes every Sunday.”

For winning the event, in which young men and women dived into the river to retrieve the cross, Mr Saldaris got a gold chain.

“The reason we throw the cross in the river is it sanctifies the Lord and all creation,” Father Elpidios said.

He recalled attending the event as a young boy, and said it was wonderful to see so many young families there.

Epiphany Festival

Spectators attend the festival at Yarra Bay. Photo: Dean Sewell

Theodore Pasialis’s feat in fishing a holy cross from the bottom of the ocean as part of the Greek Orthodox Church’s celebration of the Epiphany is supposed to bring him a year’s luck. So why does he feel bad?

Because it was not so much luck but arduous years of hard training that put him in front of the pack of more than 150 young men from the Greek Australian community in the 50 metre sprint from a barge in Yarra Bay at La Perouse.

The former elite swimmer and gold medallist in the men’s 1500 metres at the 2008 Oceania Swimming Championships has won the Blessing of the Waters race twice before, in 2011 and 2012. So “it may be controversial in the Greek community”, he laughs. “I feel bad going in for the holy cross event, because it is an unfair advantage”.

Several thousand members of Sydney’s Greek community turned out for the festivities with traditional Greek dancing and food – souvlaki, spanakopita and honey donuts called loukoumades – typical of a Greek glenti, or party.

Simultaneous events around the country have been celebrating the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. The Blessing of the Waters ceremony commemorates “the sacredness of creation which gives us the responsibility to care for the world and care for one anther”, said Dr Philip Kariatlis, academy director at St Andrews Greek Orthodox Theological College.

The winner, Pasialis, 24, was a bit hazy on the spiritual underpinnings of the race. But he reckoned it was sheer luck that let him to find the cross. “That is the lucky bit. You need a bit of luck to see it”, he says. The prize? A small religious token – and a year’s luck.

Trinity Beach and Kurrimine Beach played host to the Greek Orthodox ceremony, which symbolises the baptism of Christ in the Jordan River.

While the rain put a dampener on celebrations at Trinity Beach, about 50 people turned out to see three young, single Greek men dive underwater to find a golden cross.

In the early days of Orthodox faith, only young sailors participated as a way of giving them good luck at sea.

“The weather didn’t help, but we still did what we had to do,” St John The Baptist Greek Orthodox Parish priest Father Menelaos Hatzoglou said.

“It was really enjoyable … The cross was found within 10 minutes and brought back to my hands.

“Then I blessed every diver and all the congregation as well.”

The crowd then returned to the parish hall for a traditional Greek barbecue.

Further south, the rain stayed away at Kurrimine Beach as between 100 and 150 people gathered to watch another three young men perform the same tradition.

“It was a bit windy, but it was a nice day,” Greek Orthodox Community of Innisfail and Districts president John Kotzas said.

“Everyone was happy. It’s a joyous occasion.”

Phonographic Performance Company of Australia chief executive Dan Rosen.

Australia’s largest record labels have launched legal action against restaurants and cafes that fail to pay licensing fees for background music, which could see more patrons eating in silence.

The Phonographic Performance Company of Australia – which represents about 750 record companies – has also clamped down on fitness centres, shops and nightclubs that flout copyright laws.

But the aggressive enforcement program has infuriated many small business owners, who warn they will use other music exempt from Australian copyright protection, including US artists and most classical music.

The PPCA began Federal Court proceedings on Friday against South Yarra restaurant The Greek Deli and Taverna, which allegedly failed to pay $12,795 in licence fees over more than four years.

Lawyers for the PPCA demanded a $60,000 settlement from the restaurant’s owner, James Pothitos, and warned he could be liable for damages of $200,000 if the dispute went to court.

In August, the Federal Court ordered Collingwood restaurant The Cavallero to pay $2000 in overdue licence fees and almost $70,000 in damages and legal costs. The Smith Street restaurant has since been placed in administration.

Mr Pothitos declined to comment on the copyright dispute involving his Chapel Street restaurant while the matter was before court.

PPCA chief executive Dan Rosen said it was important to protect the rights of musicians and take action against businesses that ignored the relevant licensing fees.

”PPCA’s preference is to establish a licence with a business well and truly before it reaches court … those doing the right thing expect there will be some action taken when competitors attempt to gain an unfair advantage by obtaining a business input without incurring the appropriate costs,” Mr Rosen said.

A PPCA spokesman confirmed the Federal Court had also awarded damages against nightclubs, fitness centres and a beauty salon over the past two years.

But Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive John Hart said the cost of recorded music in Australia was ”totally ridiculous”, with fees also collected by the Australian Performing Right Association, which represents individual artists and composers.

Mr Hart said restaurants and cafes were increasingly using music that was not covered by Australian copyright laws, or playing the radio.

”The reality is that the PPCA licence catalogue is not that large and a lot of our members are looking at other options. The fees they impose on us are just insane and I doubt whether they represent value in terms of a commercial return,” Mr Hart said.