I’ve had a number of readers write or post comments on the beauty of the courts and overall setting of the Monte Carlo Open, and it is indeed an elegant, old-school type of tennis venue. That means a patina of elitism, briefly available to the average, ticket-buying schmoe.
More importantly, that means lots of great opportunities to see top players up close and very personal - on the practice courts, on field courts used during the early days of the event, in and around the clubhouse and stadium.
However, the picture you see here is not that of a court at the Monte-Carlo Tennis Club; it’s the “Centralito” Court at the Estoril Open in Portugal – home tournament of TennisWorld’s spiritual advisor, Miguel “Mikey” Seabra.
Doesn’t it look cool? Maybe it’s the fish-eye lens affect, but doesn’t this shot have a funky surrealist feel to it, with that lonely looking player caught in the middle of a picture-book service motion, the repetitive arches, profusion of parallel lines, and perfectly empty blue sky?
Internationally known journalists Richard Evans, Philippe Bouin and Bud Collins all say it ranks somewhere in their Top 5 favorite courts of the world, and the place is steeped in tennis history.
Now get this: Mikey has made an incredibly generous offer to TennisWorld that may enable you to experience the Centralito, firsthand. He’s offering me up to 10 pairs of tickets for TW readers, for any days between May 1 and May 5, for free. That’s right. You’d attend the tournament as guests. There’s no quid-pro-quo here. Mikey called, made the offer, I said, “Wow, I’m touched!”
Come on, Ruth, Mark (any of the 11 of you), Andrew,Joe Kenneth, Steggy, Rsquared, Lydia, Matt, TiC, Liron, Tracy, Tari. . . get right on Expedia or Priceline! Okay, I know only my most affluent (or charmingly irresponsible) readers can drop everything and get on a plane to Portugal so soon – but think about it. . . you can find someone to look after the cat, water the plants, and turn off the children in the almost two weeks you have between now and May 5, no?
Of course, our European/Iberian readers are more likely candidates to cash in here. I’ve been trying to determine a nice, fair way to distribute as many of the tickets as I can. I think a contest is the most fun for all. So here we go: Post a comment below (but only at this post) listing the five best and the five worst things about one of the following (your choice which one):
1 - Rafael Nadal
2 – Grass Court Tennis
3 – Roland Garros
4 – Estoril (the city)
5 – Maria Sharapova
6 – Roger Federer
7 – Tennis Journalism
8 – Steffi Graf
9 – The U.S. Open
10 – TennisWorld
11 – Andy Roddick
12 – Davis Cup
Okay, folks. All entries will be judged on originality, insight and humor, and not necessarily in that order. Please try to write your 10 things as a simple list (rather than in some kind of essay form). Enter as often as you like, and enter even if you can't go to the tournament. The more the merrier!
You have until noon next Wednesday to submit, and we’ll name the winners at 5 P.M. If you’re a winner, I will arrange with Mikey to have your pair of tickets delivered or waiting for you at the event on the day you choose to go.
Feel free to enter the contest even if you can’t attend the event. Miguel, can we have the tickets be transferable, or maybe do some kind of a deal to have them go to kids who couldn’t otherwise afford them? Email me on that or I’ll call you on Monday.