Tennis

[hamster428]

just got back from NYC... that was some stressful fun

got there Sunday morning and went to see them practice. spotted quite a few, even djokovic practicing with ferrer, but the best was Gonzo. we literally just walked past him before realizing who we saw he was a lot more clean-shaven, not as tall as we expected, and he was just talking to (his coach?) with a giant botle of presumably health supplement. the court was surprisingly vacant and there was only this other couple who were also trying to figure out if he was who we thought he was. so we got up to them, apologized for interrupting their convo, and asked for an autograph. he was really sweet, saying "Sure." probably could've asked for a photo too, but i didn't wanna push it

then on Monday morning, we (or i, really) ran to court 7 first thing to see Cilic. mid-match we caught news that Schiavone was gonna win really soon, so we dashed over to Grandstand to grab a good seat for Soderling's match. after a a set and a half, we caught news that Cilic was at 4-1 3rd set so we dashed back to court 7 to wait for his autograph. got that one too but it was a lot more work than getting Gonzo's since we got huge competition. glad i got out of that one alive. we followed him out and were actually ones of very few who did. could've asked for a photo, but chickened out again

afterwards we dropped by to see Gonzo, just to confirm he's who we thought he was. and indeed, he is. he even wore the same short. so, yay~

[hamster428]

^ i don't know why soompi keeps cutting my post there was something i said about federer/nadal up there and it keeps getting cut

wednesday, had ashe seats to see murray but skipped him to see berdych in grandstand instead (he's much cuter, and i would've been much closer to him). was hoping i could get his autograph when he wins. he didn't. >_< azarenka fainted earlier on court and that moved things along really quickly. i managed to see a schiavone & little of monfils before leaving to catch my flight.

last thoughts:

grandstand is the best bang for your buck. decently quality players, intimate distance, shady seats.

come with a friend so you can save each other's seat during bathroom breaks.

don't bother with flushing chinatown. that was the most dead chinatown i've ever visited in my life. i was glad we stayed in manhattan because times square is a lot more fun.

visit the nike store! they've got the cutest/cheapest shirts, surprisingly. they all overcharge elsewhere. those giant balls kids carry around for autographs? 40 friggin dollars.

don't ask security in yellow for direction. we asked where the water fountain was, and he told us to exit the ground and circle around somewhere somewhere. really, dude? then we asked another guy where the south gate was and he told us to circle in the opposite direction (that would've taken us twice as long) glad we semi-knew where we were going and double-checked with someone else.

and thanks again to wonderbang about the south gate. saved us like an hour in line.

[Guest wonderbang]

Yay thanks for the report hamster! You're totally welcome on the South Gate recommendation. I'm just glad it worked out for you and I didn't give you bad advice...LOL.

Grandstand for sure seems like the best court to be around. Ashe is just cavernous...the outer courts are cool if you like any of the players. Glad you had fun

P.S. That between the leg shot was unholy. Can't believe Rog did it AGAIN

[Guest jhnwills90]

Tennis is my favorite sport. It is very interesting to watch or play Tennis.

[hamster428]

^^ we saw the roger's match too. our tickets were for the morning sessions, and because we're both crazy, we went to buy seats for the night sessions of fed & rafa

the btw the leg shot definitely woke the crowd up. we cheered forever and it was the only time i felt like i was in a live stadium (we sat so far away).

last night the crowd chanted for nole to hit a "tweener" too. and during the interview, he was asked if he got that shot btw his leg, and he said "no, i got something else btw my legs" oh nole.

[Guest wonderbang]

^HAHA....I just read Nole's comment on Yahoo before reading yours and I was cracking up. Guy has got personality for sure

But I can't seem to watch the USO for too long....I start to sweat lol. I hate humidity...and with that heat...and Hurricane Earl...oh gosh, the weather just seems ridiculous.

[Guest dOotsiez]

Oooh sounded like you had so much fun Hamster. Woulda loved to visit the USO, but alas, just the AO and the occasional Wimbledon for me. Roland Garros and the US Open are never on at the right time for my holidays. Boohoo.

Maybe next year, if I can finally get my act together with exchange "

[hamster428]

wonderbang: we went on 4 gorgeous sunny days and my sweats washed sunscreen into my eyes every few seconds . semi-glad i didn't take a pic with cilic because i found out later i looked horrible, sweat-plastered hair and everything.

dootsiez: we did have fun. but i'm sad that everyone we got/wanted autographs from died in early rounds. we must've jinxed them

how's the ticketing system for the AO like? can foreigners easily purchase online or do we have to go to the box office? i may not be crazy enough to go outside of N America though. planning to go to Montreal Masters next year if my mom decides to visit her brother.

[Guest wonderbang]

I think the AO has the easiest ticketing system of all four slams...you should go! I loved Australia when I visited last year.

I'm so looking forward to Wozniacki and Sharapova in the fourth round. After The Woz and Masha served up double bagels for opponents, I think this one could be a real firecracker

[cecilia]

ooo havent been in here for ages~~

so it's Clijsters or Zvonareva~

For me, i hope the defending champ can defend her title~~

Men's semis tmr~~*heart skips a beat*

wont be able to watch yet again

somehow i think it's better coz it's less excruciating to watch numbers move

[Guest symphonee.]

Err.. seriously Roger? You're doing this again now?! What is going on with him. Win a set, lose a set, win a set and about to lose another set. This is so frustrating. His first serve is horrible! I will be so annoyed if he loses here. Its been awhile since we got a Fedal final!

Edit.

Grrr...! Djok was playing his best tennis in the last few games. It was pretty impressive. And even though Roger upped his game in the last set, Djok just outplayed him today. Roger had 2 match points but Djok just went off and took his momentum all the way to the end. Not the final I was hoping for but oh well. Hope to see Nadal win his career GS.

[Guest teeny]

what a great tennis match between two great players! I would have been happy with either outcome, but I was rooting abit more for djokovic, because I thought he was playing superb!

Now I hope clijsters wins tonight!! FTW~~

[hamster428]

too many iffy moments from both nole & fed today. it's like they were there, and then they were not. "hmm, i kinda want it... now i don't, now i do. no, maybe i don't."

was really hoping for a fedal final - for all the drama and backdrop stories it would have. but i also have been waiting for a longgggg time for nole to win against fed at the USO. those damn 7-5, 7-6 i also think nole is overdue for his 2nd slam. though i hope it doesn't come at the expense of nadal this yr, i won't be too upset if it does. can't wait for the match!

[Guest symphonee.]

Congrats Rafa. He managed to get a career grand slam just within one year of Fed and only at the age of 24. That's ridiculous! He played a good tournament and deserved it! Nole did well too. I'm impressed he fought till the end. Seems he's matured a bit over the last few years huh?

Congrats to Clijstes too. Glad she defended her title.

[hamster428]

ridiculous tv coverage this year. first they pushed the match itself back to monday because of football, then they cut short the award ceremony because of football. although i'm glad cbs finally gave up and let espn2 broadcast it, i'm still so . you don't see wimbledon scheduling their tourney around the world cup "greatest tennis tourney in the world?" don't make me snort, USTA.

maybe i've been spoiled the last few years (particularly wimby 08) but none of the finals this year particularly registered. of course i'm very glad (and proud) nadal got his records written. now i can gloat the entire rest of the year > "take that, naysayers"

but yeah... his work was almost too efficient, too roger-like. i heard for the 1st time the term "virtuoso" and nadal in the same sentence >_<. now, if del-po can come back healthy and at his old level to make things interesting once again, or fresh faces show up and push nadal to new limits again, i'll be one happy tennis fan.

[Guest wonderbang]

I'm super excited for Nadal for his career slam! I can't believe it's now 3 in a row....if there was a Serena Slam, then I hope he gets a Rafa Slam

[Guest wonderbang]

I've watched this commercial 10 times already LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NChuiwwpr6Q

[hamster428]

so gasquet got his revenge in shanghai defeating monfils but poor kid had to play 2 matches in the same day blah they're showing encores of the top players though. murray needs to hurry it up so i can watch somebody else.

[Guest wonderbang]

What's up with Murray? The guy can play awesome at Masters Series tournaments but can't conjure the same at slams. Anyways, he just took out Feddy pretty easily in the final, although I'm sure Fed has more on his mind about this ridiculous gambling scandal. Sigh..

[hamster428]

^ watching the ceremony made me sympathize for murray A LOT. i don't think i've seen a winner more somber. "been there, done that, but where's my GSlammmm!!!!"

i didn't really care for him before, esp because i hate guys who talk big before accomplishing the walk. and he totally went the other way when we were calling for him at the USO! what a snob (haha) but now i think murray's just sorta socially awkward, and the media's definitely got a way to fish things out of you if you're not alert. i think only nadal's been extremely good about that. either he's that humble, or that coy

so anyway, i might have been made a fan of murray's last sunday. he seemed so pensive about his win it was almost heartbreaking. i might be okay with him stopping rafa from the rafa slam in 2011