The 2006 Cincinnati Report - Part One
It took me forever to get started on this, what with working and getting back into the rhythm of my life and coming to terms with the fact that 97% of the men in Portland are hideous. *sigh*
Anyhow, this report is for Wednesday, August 9th, through Friday, August 11. I'm already most of the way through Saturday, and hopefully I'll get a lot more done tomorrow. I know I didn't finish my reports last year, but I'm determined to do it this year!
- First Wednesday - No ticket
Our trip to Cincinnati went pretty smoothly, although we did have a moment of annoyance when we first checked in at the airport and, despite having purchased our seats together, we were seated apart. We dashed to the gate to see if something could be done and started a trend of being just in time for things. The man in front of us in line hadn’t been happy with his middle seat, so he’d upgraded to first class, leaving two seats together free for us. Even better, they were in the first row of coach, which means more leg room! (I have long legs, and planes suck in that department.)
We spent most of the trip playing magnetic hangman, mocking the Skymall catalogue, and talking about our plans for the week. The flight went by surprisingly quickly, even if our descent into Cincinnati took much longer than usual due to clouds. My friend complained about it, until I pointed out that there was a much faster was to reach the ground, but she wasn’t going to like it!
We missed the raised "terror alert" and all the extra restrictions that come with it by only a day, thank goodness. I would have been pissed if forced to give up everything liquid in my carry on, including my brand new and not cheap bottle of lilac perfume. Anyhow, we had no trouble getting our luggage and getting out of the airport. We were saddened by the lack of Mansour Bahrami, as we’ve seen him there every year from the very beginning, but there was plenty to look forward to, so it wasn’t so bad.
At the car rental place, we had the pleasure of being told to pick any car from a particular section, and gleefully selected a tennis ball yellow Ford Cobalt. Then, when we tried to drive it off the lot, the man in the booth told us we couldn’t have it! Apparently, it was supposed to have been taken for maintenance and not put in the regular lot. We sulked until they brought another car, a dark green/gray Cobalt that had the bonus of a sunroof. Along with our separate seats on the plane, it was just the beginning of the universe screwing with us.
We found the hotel and checked in with no trouble. We stayed at the same place as last year, but we’ll probably be looking for a different hotel. It has some big advantages, like a pool and kitchenettes, but they raised the prices and did away with the continental breakfast. We LOVED that breakfast, particularly on the mornings when we’d gotten so little sleep and had to rush back off to the tournament grounds. Also, the housekeeping has gone downhill, and I got really tired of returning to a hotel room that smelled vaguely of musty cat every night.
After settling in, we headed off to visit the tournament grounds and grab dinner at our usual spot, Ruby Tuesdays. Driving through the grounds is always fun, because there is a bustle of activity by then, but no one is really around yet to appreciate it. We could easily park the car and go in if we wanted, but we usually make due with driving around the outside and breathing in the air of anticipation. At Ruby Tuesday’s we once again asked the server to turn one of the televisions to ESPN2 so we could watch the tennis coverage from Toronto, but with less success. They kept telling us that they would check on it, but we were done before anything happened.
We made up for it later that night. Ordinarily, we spend the rest of Wednesday night lounging around our hotel room, maybe taking a dip in the pool. This year it was too cool for the pool (Plus, some redneck guy who was the antithesis of attractive was camped out with his cooler. "Hey, ladies, wanna beer?"), and we got bored with the television very quickly. We ended up driving up to the Applebee’s by the player’s hotel, where a server was more than happy to turn one of the televisions to Toronto despite the football game that most of the crowd was absorbed in. We shared a dessert and delighted in watching Rafael beat Lee, particularly when they showed Feli looking on. (SO need to write a Carlos/Rafa, Nando/Feli, Rafa/Feli story.)
There were two very familiar faces sitting at a corner table. One even my friend recognized, but I couldn’t for the life of me think of their names. When they got up to leave, we got a better look, but it was no use. We were even beginning to think that maybe they weren’t tennis players after all, but as they went out the door they spotted the tennis on television and both froze in their tracks. They laughed and spoke briefly to each other in what my friend described as "Not German, or Russian, but something like that." (She should know, she speaks fluent German and a bit of Russian.) As they left, the younger, cuter of the two was practicing his backhand on thin air, and both of them headed toward the player hotel. We later saw them on the tournament grounds, but I’m still not sure who they were. Still, first players of the year!
- First Thursday - No ticket
The next day we stuck to our tradition of going to see a Johnny Depp movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean 2". It was good, and Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom were both cute, but to be honest, I’ll need to see it again. My memory of it has been mostly washed away by the fun we had at the tournament. Afterward, we had lunch at Chipotle, sadly with no sign of Carlos, like last year. We ate outside and saw several people in tennis clothes wandering around outside the player’s hotel (seriously, they were just wandering), but it was too distant to tell who they might be.
Out trip to Bigg’s to get groceries was a bit more exciting. A storm had rolled in as we finished eating and was in full swing by the time we got into the store. At one point we heard some sort of alarm go off, but it ended quickly and no one else seemed worried, so we proceeded with our shopping. My friend spotted another tennis clothes-clad person passing us, a cute boy, and we found him again when we went to pick out granola bars. He was standing in front of the candy, already holding a small pile. We couldn’t help but giggle as we watched him lift a roll of Sweettarts, sniffing it carefully before adding it to his stash. We didn’t linger, heading over to the produce section for bananas, but only a couple minutes later, all the lights suddenly went out!
It was PITCH black, so we just stayed still until, little by little, emergency lights began to come on. Then, glancing around, who should we find standing at the end of the aisle? Candy Boy, still clutching his heap of treats and looking around in bewilderment. It was everything we could do not to go over and say, "Are you lost, little one? Did you wander away from your coach? Don’t be scared, we’ll take you home."
He headed off and we let him go, hoping that he made it back to the hotel with his sweets without further incident. (More about him later.)
That night, with the rain continuing, we returned to Applebee’s, this time the one nearest our hotel. (Honestly, Applebee’s and Bob Evans are to Cincinnati what Starbuck’s is to Portland, there’s one on almost every corner.) The server was kind enough to turn a television to ESPN2 for us (After first turning it to CSPAN2 and glancing over to say, "This one?") and we watched Dmitry play Roger. We got there just in time to see Roger swear and then giggle in embarrassment. He’s so cute. Then Dmitry won the second set, and things got interesting…until Roger decided he was done playing around and won 6/0 in the third. Oh well, we needed our sleep anyhow.
- First Friday - Ticket M1, Mats Wilander
Friday is, of course, Draw Party day. Usually, we relax in the morning, maybe go out to lunch, and the head over to the tournament grounds as early as possible. That Friday it was rainy and gross and we slept in, so we ended up just hanging out until it was time to get ready. The Draw Party starts at 4:30, which means that the grounds are officially supposed to be open at 2:30. As every previous year, we were the first car in Lot B, and there was no one at the gates to take our tickets.
Unfortunately, it was still drizzling, so there wasn’t much to see. After wandering a bit, we sat up in the covered seats at Center and watched them set up the Shot Spot cameras. Those are supposed to be the hella expensive seats, but we still marvel at that. Aside from being partially shaded, they suck compared to our current seats. We have a much better view. In fact, if we had real seats instead of bleacher seats, we’d never move. (As it is, we’re looking for an upgrade. Those benches are hell on the back after a full day, and it sucks when there are more people in the row than belong there, or just really big people, and we’re constantly being squeezed off the end.)
As we got closer to the start of the Draw Party, we walked around a bit more and were happy to find Paradorn practicing on Court 4. We also saw several other familiar players, but none of our favorites. I can’t remember if I told everyone the story of Chris, otherwise known as Hot Camera Guy, but we saw him as well. He’d grown a thick bushy beard since last year, and when he passed by us, we gave each other long, "Do I know you?" looks. It wasn’t until I glanced back again and saw his ponytail, and then he glanced back and smiled that I realized who it was. When I told my friend (she’s the one who gave him his nickname, after all), she refused to believe that it was him. It wasn’t until a couple days later, when we bumped into him again and he said hello to her that she finally relented.
Eventually we had no choice but to head in to the Draw Party. Although it was lovely and cool outside because of the rain, inside the tent was muggy and sticky and hot. As usual, we didn’t exactly blend in with the crowd, but we rarely worry about that anymore. We found a good table and took turns visiting the buffet. Once again, my veggie friend found few options and wound up eating mostly cheese and fruits and vegetables and desserts. (Sometimes we forget how spoiled she is to live in such a veg-friendly city, but Cincinnati never fails to remind us.)
The draw itself went pretty smoothly. As usual, we abstained from participating. A few years ago, we both drew guys that we liked, and they both lost in the first round. Better safe than sorry. (We also never, ever say, "Good luck.") We watched the draw pretty closely, keeping track of our guy’s names as they were called so we’d know who was missing, who might be playing the qualifiers, and who we’d have to worry about losing early. When darling little Gilles Simon was drawn to play that punk Agassi, I had forgotten where I was and actually cried out, "No!" (More about that later.)
After the draw was done and Luke Jensen, Owen Davidson, and Tom Gullikson had gone through it match by match to discuss their picks (mispronouncing half the names along the way), we headed back out to the practice courts, and were glad we did. We saw a small crowd gathered at Center and looked in, only to flee when we saw none other than Agassi. Before we got far, my friend suggested that we see who he was hitting with, and were delighted to find Nico Lapentti. He looked tan and fit and lovely, particularly compared to who he was practicing with. We lingered there to watch Nico for a little while, noting that he’s put on a significant amount of muscle in the last couple of years, and then moved on.
Over at Courts 5, 6 & 7, we discovered Tommy Robredo (with Nicolas Almagro), Novak Djokovic, Marcos Baghdatis, Gael Monfils (with Remi Barbarin), and Guillermo Vilas, warming up for his seniors match later that night. Marcos and Nole left shortly after we arrived, so I had my photo taken with both. Marcos was surprisingly surly, seeming very annoyed by the small crowd of people waiting for him (no more than six or seven, I’d say). He stopped and signed autographs and took photos, but when I asked, he sighed and said, "Yes, okay, last one." as though we’d been keeping him there for hours. Nole, on the other hand, seemed delighted. He chatted and laughed as he made his way through us, and when I asked for a photo with him, he threw his arm around me and pulled me close. Very nice.
As we stayed to watch Tommy, Gael and Vilas, a few other guys came and went, including Juan Ignacio Chela, Greg Rusedski, and Nicolas Mahut. When Vilas left the court, I asked him for a photo as well, and he was very funny and charming. Also, his adorable little girl was there, and he was very cute jabbering away at her. I wish I’d had my Argentina flag there, because it would have been awesome to get his signature as well.
We mostly stayed for Tommy, though, even after the seniors matches began. My friend had blown up a photo that we took last year for him to sign. It was of him and David Ferrer, from one of their doubles matches. In it, they’re standing side by side, both examining their racquets, and both giggling like children. While we were waiting, some other Spanish-speaking guys who I recognized but could not name wandered past, and Tommy called out to them.
(Loosely translated from the Spanish.)
Tommy - Hey, have you seen David?
Guys - Who? David Ferrer?
Tommy - Yes, my David. (Yes, I’m certain he said "my".)
Guys - No, haven’t seen him.
Tommy - If you do, tell him I said....(I missed the rest, though it made the guys laugh madly and shake their heads as they walked away.)
Eventually, it was just Tommy, Almagro, and Gael left. By then it was starting to get dark, and Tommy and Almagro were just sitting around chatting, but Gael was still running drills and hitting balls, all by himself. Every now and then one of his "keepers" would wander out to check on him, but then they’d leave him again. We felt a little bad for the kid!
Finally, Tommy headed out, and being the only people left, my friend got her photograph signed. When she asked him, Tommy at first shook his head and said, "No, no.", but then he laughed and took the marker she offered him. Stinker. As Feli had the year before, he paused to really look at the photo before signing it and asked where it had been taken. This time my friend was able to reply, so I mostly just stood there while she explained that it had there, the year before. Tommy nodded, saying, "Oh, very nice." As he started to walk away, I asked if he would be playing doubles again, and he grinned at me.
"Yes." He pointed to the picture. "With David."
Without thinking, I said, "Thank you!"
He just laughed and caught up to Almagro, who had been waiting for him. We basked in our moment of glory, and left Gael behind to watch some of the seniors. By then, they were on the second match of the night, Gullikson and Wilander vs Davidson and Pernfors. Well, it should have been Davidson and Pernfors, but only a few games in, Pernfors tripped, hard, and hurt his ankle. They practically had to carry him to his chair, and a trainer was called. Being a seniors match, they didn’t want to just call it, so someone went and fetched Luke Jensen, who had played and lost in the first match, with Gottfriend against Vilas and Woodforde. Not surprisingly, Jensen hammed it up upon his return, and keep the comedy coming as the night wore on. He will never be Bahrami (We missed Bahrami.), but he can do some really cool things with a tennis ball. At one point, he climbed up to the top deck before serving...and still made it into the box.
It was really late by the time we got home, but we still pronounced it our best first Friday to date. Usually, we get to see one or two of our players, and instead we’d gotten a handful, I’d already had my photo taken with some of them, and Sarah had gotten one of her photos signed. And it was only the first day of the tournament!
To be continued...
Obviously, still no photos. Downloading the ones I took with my digital camera turned out to be a bitch, because I took over 500, and I had to break it up to download them in more managable chunks. Most of those aren't very good, so I'll only share a handful, plus the ones I got taken with players. (That will be a friend's only post, of course.) I also have several videos, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to share them or not. First things first, I suppose.
Also, am I really the only one who isn't uber disappointed by the US Open draw? Feli / Lubicic in the first round aside, I don't have any major complaints. Well, I'm disappointed that all my qualifiers made it to the final round before losing, but, hey, can't win them all.
Anyhow, this report is for Wednesday, August 9th, through Friday, August 11. I'm already most of the way through Saturday, and hopefully I'll get a lot more done tomorrow. I know I didn't finish my reports last year, but I'm determined to do it this year!
- First Wednesday - No ticket
Our trip to Cincinnati went pretty smoothly, although we did have a moment of annoyance when we first checked in at the airport and, despite having purchased our seats together, we were seated apart. We dashed to the gate to see if something could be done and started a trend of being just in time for things. The man in front of us in line hadn’t been happy with his middle seat, so he’d upgraded to first class, leaving two seats together free for us. Even better, they were in the first row of coach, which means more leg room! (I have long legs, and planes suck in that department.)
We spent most of the trip playing magnetic hangman, mocking the Skymall catalogue, and talking about our plans for the week. The flight went by surprisingly quickly, even if our descent into Cincinnati took much longer than usual due to clouds. My friend complained about it, until I pointed out that there was a much faster was to reach the ground, but she wasn’t going to like it!
We missed the raised "terror alert" and all the extra restrictions that come with it by only a day, thank goodness. I would have been pissed if forced to give up everything liquid in my carry on, including my brand new and not cheap bottle of lilac perfume. Anyhow, we had no trouble getting our luggage and getting out of the airport. We were saddened by the lack of Mansour Bahrami, as we’ve seen him there every year from the very beginning, but there was plenty to look forward to, so it wasn’t so bad.
At the car rental place, we had the pleasure of being told to pick any car from a particular section, and gleefully selected a tennis ball yellow Ford Cobalt. Then, when we tried to drive it off the lot, the man in the booth told us we couldn’t have it! Apparently, it was supposed to have been taken for maintenance and not put in the regular lot. We sulked until they brought another car, a dark green/gray Cobalt that had the bonus of a sunroof. Along with our separate seats on the plane, it was just the beginning of the universe screwing with us.
We found the hotel and checked in with no trouble. We stayed at the same place as last year, but we’ll probably be looking for a different hotel. It has some big advantages, like a pool and kitchenettes, but they raised the prices and did away with the continental breakfast. We LOVED that breakfast, particularly on the mornings when we’d gotten so little sleep and had to rush back off to the tournament grounds. Also, the housekeeping has gone downhill, and I got really tired of returning to a hotel room that smelled vaguely of musty cat every night.
After settling in, we headed off to visit the tournament grounds and grab dinner at our usual spot, Ruby Tuesdays. Driving through the grounds is always fun, because there is a bustle of activity by then, but no one is really around yet to appreciate it. We could easily park the car and go in if we wanted, but we usually make due with driving around the outside and breathing in the air of anticipation. At Ruby Tuesday’s we once again asked the server to turn one of the televisions to ESPN2 so we could watch the tennis coverage from Toronto, but with less success. They kept telling us that they would check on it, but we were done before anything happened.
We made up for it later that night. Ordinarily, we spend the rest of Wednesday night lounging around our hotel room, maybe taking a dip in the pool. This year it was too cool for the pool (Plus, some redneck guy who was the antithesis of attractive was camped out with his cooler. "Hey, ladies, wanna beer?"), and we got bored with the television very quickly. We ended up driving up to the Applebee’s by the player’s hotel, where a server was more than happy to turn one of the televisions to Toronto despite the football game that most of the crowd was absorbed in. We shared a dessert and delighted in watching Rafael beat Lee, particularly when they showed Feli looking on. (SO need to write a Carlos/Rafa, Nando/Feli, Rafa/Feli story.)
There were two very familiar faces sitting at a corner table. One even my friend recognized, but I couldn’t for the life of me think of their names. When they got up to leave, we got a better look, but it was no use. We were even beginning to think that maybe they weren’t tennis players after all, but as they went out the door they spotted the tennis on television and both froze in their tracks. They laughed and spoke briefly to each other in what my friend described as "Not German, or Russian, but something like that." (She should know, she speaks fluent German and a bit of Russian.) As they left, the younger, cuter of the two was practicing his backhand on thin air, and both of them headed toward the player hotel. We later saw them on the tournament grounds, but I’m still not sure who they were. Still, first players of the year!
- First Thursday - No ticket
The next day we stuck to our tradition of going to see a Johnny Depp movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean 2". It was good, and Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom were both cute, but to be honest, I’ll need to see it again. My memory of it has been mostly washed away by the fun we had at the tournament. Afterward, we had lunch at Chipotle, sadly with no sign of Carlos, like last year. We ate outside and saw several people in tennis clothes wandering around outside the player’s hotel (seriously, they were just wandering), but it was too distant to tell who they might be.
Out trip to Bigg’s to get groceries was a bit more exciting. A storm had rolled in as we finished eating and was in full swing by the time we got into the store. At one point we heard some sort of alarm go off, but it ended quickly and no one else seemed worried, so we proceeded with our shopping. My friend spotted another tennis clothes-clad person passing us, a cute boy, and we found him again when we went to pick out granola bars. He was standing in front of the candy, already holding a small pile. We couldn’t help but giggle as we watched him lift a roll of Sweettarts, sniffing it carefully before adding it to his stash. We didn’t linger, heading over to the produce section for bananas, but only a couple minutes later, all the lights suddenly went out!
It was PITCH black, so we just stayed still until, little by little, emergency lights began to come on. Then, glancing around, who should we find standing at the end of the aisle? Candy Boy, still clutching his heap of treats and looking around in bewilderment. It was everything we could do not to go over and say, "Are you lost, little one? Did you wander away from your coach? Don’t be scared, we’ll take you home."
He headed off and we let him go, hoping that he made it back to the hotel with his sweets without further incident. (More about him later.)
That night, with the rain continuing, we returned to Applebee’s, this time the one nearest our hotel. (Honestly, Applebee’s and Bob Evans are to Cincinnati what Starbuck’s is to Portland, there’s one on almost every corner.) The server was kind enough to turn a television to ESPN2 for us (After first turning it to CSPAN2 and glancing over to say, "This one?") and we watched Dmitry play Roger. We got there just in time to see Roger swear and then giggle in embarrassment. He’s so cute. Then Dmitry won the second set, and things got interesting…until Roger decided he was done playing around and won 6/0 in the third. Oh well, we needed our sleep anyhow.
- First Friday - Ticket M1, Mats Wilander
Friday is, of course, Draw Party day. Usually, we relax in the morning, maybe go out to lunch, and the head over to the tournament grounds as early as possible. That Friday it was rainy and gross and we slept in, so we ended up just hanging out until it was time to get ready. The Draw Party starts at 4:30, which means that the grounds are officially supposed to be open at 2:30. As every previous year, we were the first car in Lot B, and there was no one at the gates to take our tickets.
Unfortunately, it was still drizzling, so there wasn’t much to see. After wandering a bit, we sat up in the covered seats at Center and watched them set up the Shot Spot cameras. Those are supposed to be the hella expensive seats, but we still marvel at that. Aside from being partially shaded, they suck compared to our current seats. We have a much better view. In fact, if we had real seats instead of bleacher seats, we’d never move. (As it is, we’re looking for an upgrade. Those benches are hell on the back after a full day, and it sucks when there are more people in the row than belong there, or just really big people, and we’re constantly being squeezed off the end.)
As we got closer to the start of the Draw Party, we walked around a bit more and were happy to find Paradorn practicing on Court 4. We also saw several other familiar players, but none of our favorites. I can’t remember if I told everyone the story of Chris, otherwise known as Hot Camera Guy, but we saw him as well. He’d grown a thick bushy beard since last year, and when he passed by us, we gave each other long, "Do I know you?" looks. It wasn’t until I glanced back again and saw his ponytail, and then he glanced back and smiled that I realized who it was. When I told my friend (she’s the one who gave him his nickname, after all), she refused to believe that it was him. It wasn’t until a couple days later, when we bumped into him again and he said hello to her that she finally relented.
Eventually we had no choice but to head in to the Draw Party. Although it was lovely and cool outside because of the rain, inside the tent was muggy and sticky and hot. As usual, we didn’t exactly blend in with the crowd, but we rarely worry about that anymore. We found a good table and took turns visiting the buffet. Once again, my veggie friend found few options and wound up eating mostly cheese and fruits and vegetables and desserts. (Sometimes we forget how spoiled she is to live in such a veg-friendly city, but Cincinnati never fails to remind us.)
The draw itself went pretty smoothly. As usual, we abstained from participating. A few years ago, we both drew guys that we liked, and they both lost in the first round. Better safe than sorry. (We also never, ever say, "Good luck.") We watched the draw pretty closely, keeping track of our guy’s names as they were called so we’d know who was missing, who might be playing the qualifiers, and who we’d have to worry about losing early. When darling little Gilles Simon was drawn to play that punk Agassi, I had forgotten where I was and actually cried out, "No!" (More about that later.)
After the draw was done and Luke Jensen, Owen Davidson, and Tom Gullikson had gone through it match by match to discuss their picks (mispronouncing half the names along the way), we headed back out to the practice courts, and were glad we did. We saw a small crowd gathered at Center and looked in, only to flee when we saw none other than Agassi. Before we got far, my friend suggested that we see who he was hitting with, and were delighted to find Nico Lapentti. He looked tan and fit and lovely, particularly compared to who he was practicing with. We lingered there to watch Nico for a little while, noting that he’s put on a significant amount of muscle in the last couple of years, and then moved on.
Over at Courts 5, 6 & 7, we discovered Tommy Robredo (with Nicolas Almagro), Novak Djokovic, Marcos Baghdatis, Gael Monfils (with Remi Barbarin), and Guillermo Vilas, warming up for his seniors match later that night. Marcos and Nole left shortly after we arrived, so I had my photo taken with both. Marcos was surprisingly surly, seeming very annoyed by the small crowd of people waiting for him (no more than six or seven, I’d say). He stopped and signed autographs and took photos, but when I asked, he sighed and said, "Yes, okay, last one." as though we’d been keeping him there for hours. Nole, on the other hand, seemed delighted. He chatted and laughed as he made his way through us, and when I asked for a photo with him, he threw his arm around me and pulled me close. Very nice.
As we stayed to watch Tommy, Gael and Vilas, a few other guys came and went, including Juan Ignacio Chela, Greg Rusedski, and Nicolas Mahut. When Vilas left the court, I asked him for a photo as well, and he was very funny and charming. Also, his adorable little girl was there, and he was very cute jabbering away at her. I wish I’d had my Argentina flag there, because it would have been awesome to get his signature as well.
We mostly stayed for Tommy, though, even after the seniors matches began. My friend had blown up a photo that we took last year for him to sign. It was of him and David Ferrer, from one of their doubles matches. In it, they’re standing side by side, both examining their racquets, and both giggling like children. While we were waiting, some other Spanish-speaking guys who I recognized but could not name wandered past, and Tommy called out to them.
(Loosely translated from the Spanish.)
Tommy - Hey, have you seen David?
Guys - Who? David Ferrer?
Tommy - Yes, my David. (Yes, I’m certain he said "my".)
Guys - No, haven’t seen him.
Tommy - If you do, tell him I said....(I missed the rest, though it made the guys laugh madly and shake their heads as they walked away.)
Eventually, it was just Tommy, Almagro, and Gael left. By then it was starting to get dark, and Tommy and Almagro were just sitting around chatting, but Gael was still running drills and hitting balls, all by himself. Every now and then one of his "keepers" would wander out to check on him, but then they’d leave him again. We felt a little bad for the kid!
Finally, Tommy headed out, and being the only people left, my friend got her photograph signed. When she asked him, Tommy at first shook his head and said, "No, no.", but then he laughed and took the marker she offered him. Stinker. As Feli had the year before, he paused to really look at the photo before signing it and asked where it had been taken. This time my friend was able to reply, so I mostly just stood there while she explained that it had there, the year before. Tommy nodded, saying, "Oh, very nice." As he started to walk away, I asked if he would be playing doubles again, and he grinned at me.
"Yes." He pointed to the picture. "With David."
Without thinking, I said, "Thank you!"
He just laughed and caught up to Almagro, who had been waiting for him. We basked in our moment of glory, and left Gael behind to watch some of the seniors. By then, they were on the second match of the night, Gullikson and Wilander vs Davidson and Pernfors. Well, it should have been Davidson and Pernfors, but only a few games in, Pernfors tripped, hard, and hurt his ankle. They practically had to carry him to his chair, and a trainer was called. Being a seniors match, they didn’t want to just call it, so someone went and fetched Luke Jensen, who had played and lost in the first match, with Gottfriend against Vilas and Woodforde. Not surprisingly, Jensen hammed it up upon his return, and keep the comedy coming as the night wore on. He will never be Bahrami (We missed Bahrami.), but he can do some really cool things with a tennis ball. At one point, he climbed up to the top deck before serving...and still made it into the box.
It was really late by the time we got home, but we still pronounced it our best first Friday to date. Usually, we get to see one or two of our players, and instead we’d gotten a handful, I’d already had my photo taken with some of them, and Sarah had gotten one of her photos signed. And it was only the first day of the tournament!
To be continued...
Obviously, still no photos. Downloading the ones I took with my digital camera turned out to be a bitch, because I took over 500, and I had to break it up to download them in more managable chunks. Most of those aren't very good, so I'll only share a handful, plus the ones I got taken with players. (That will be a friend's only post, of course.) I also have several videos, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to share them or not. First things first, I suppose.
Also, am I really the only one who isn't uber disappointed by the US Open draw? Feli / Lubicic in the first round aside, I don't have any major complaints. Well, I'm disappointed that all my qualifiers made it to the final round before losing, but, hey, can't win them all.