Can you guess who's who in these photos?
As for the tennis, I didn't catch as much action as I did in Toronto and Cincinnati. A combination of tennis burnout (yes, it's possible) and the suffocating Labor Day weekend crowd. I didn't even bother checking out practices, after remembering how inaccessible they were last year. (And yet I noticed on Twitter that a number of you snagged some great practice session photos; what do you guys know that I don't?) Despite not being able to wander from court to court every few minutes, as I'm wont to at tournaments, I still got my tennis fill, usually parking myself on the outside courts or in Grandstand to watch some of the lesser-known players showcase their skills.
Day 1. I joined jb, lpb (Susan), and her husband Alex for Federer vs. Mathieu. The cheap seats in Ashe get a lot of flak for being too removed from the action, but I didn't think it was any worse than, say, the upper level seats in the main stadium at Indian Wells. I could still see the action clearly, could still hear Federer's abrupt exhalation on his serves. After the match, I moved to Court 13 for Stakhovsky/Youzhny vs. Aspelin/Hanley but had to leave after only a few minutes for Federer's press conference.
This presser was a real joy. If you followed my Cincy coverage, you'll remember that I commented on Federer's somewhat "testy" mood at his pre-tournament presser, but I saw none of that here. He was relaxed, patient, almost cheerful. My favorite part was observing his eyes dancing to and from the monitor showing the fifth set of Fish vs. Clement. He was just like one of us in those moments - a tennis fan. As always, he fielded a gazillion questions in English, French, and Swiss German. Then came a taped interview with Ai Sugiyama. The whole process took a good 40-45 minutes, and that wasn't even the end of it, as he was whisked away for more interviews elsewhere. I know I'm not the first to say it, but Federer deserves every ounce of praise he gets for devoting this much time to the media, without showing even a sniff of irritation or brusqueness. I was exhausted, and all I did was sit and watch!
Pete showed me around the media center which was a far cry from any of the other facilities I'd been to in terms of size. This is what it's like in the big leagues, huh?
I spent a few minutes on Grandstand watching Melzer outplay Ferrero (pretty painful), then finished the day at Djokovic vs. Blake.
Day 2. The day started with Melo/Soares vs. Moodie/Norman on Court 13, then Nadal vs. Simon on Ashe. (I left after the first set; I was glad to see Nadal's firepower in full force, in this stadium, but missed the competitiveness of their match in Madrid two years ago.) After that I moved to Grandstand for Robredo vs. Llodra. Llodra is one of my favorite players to watch live. This is what I have in my notes: "Lloder's brilliance up close worth the price of admission." Robredo's entertaining, too. Not just the classical strokes, but the expressiveness on court. Mumbling to himself, looking at his team, chewing on his nails, angrily swatting at balls after lost games. After a promising start, the match ended in disappointing fashion, with Llodra retiring. I wasn't sure what was wrong at the time, observing only that he struggled to even get out his chair after a changeover. I heard later that he was ill and complained of dizziness. Yikes.
I raced over to Armstrong after that, as Wawrinka was a few games away from beating Murray and scoring the biggest upset of the tournament. My notes: "Stan absolutely inspired. Crowd bananas. This is HUGE." The most atmospheric of the matches I attended.
Day 3. I spent much of the day on Grandstand for more doubles fun and had the time of my life. The best day by far. First up was Dulko/Pennetta vs. Niculescu/Peer. I'd never seen Niculescu live before, and she's a fiery one. Strong legs, too. Dulko/Pennetta were the more energetic and cohesive duo, constantly pumping themselves, and each other, up. Not a surprise that they nabbed the deciding set.
Lindstedt/Tecau vs. Schwank/Zeballos was up next. I watched Zeballos play singles in Cincinnati and called him a "typical hot-blooded South American" because of his intensity, but here he looked like a different person. Positive, markedly less tense. Goofy, even - he played footie with the balls, made faces, did a little jig after hitting an impossible winner, asked chair umpire Lynn Welch if it were possible to redo a challenge. He and Schwank looked to be having a rollicking good time, and that attitude likely buoyed them to victory. In contrast, Lindstedt and Tecau were almost uncomfortably reserved and rarely spoke to one another (I noticed this during a practice in Toronto, too - it's like they communicate solely through glares and hand slaps). Lindstedt was in an awful mood, especially after the first set, which was lost in an error-laden (his own) tiebreak. Looks to me that he's quite a finicky guy, as well. He said something about the balls to Welch, complained about crowd noise - which was "just" two people quietly talking. I desperately wanted them to snap out of their funk - I really like this team and was pulling for them - but it wasn't to be.
I peeled myself out of my Grandstand seat to watch some of Wozniacki vs. Sharapova, which was supposed to be a real barnburner. We all know how that went. (I miss Australian Open '08 Sharapova.) Wozniacki's win felt like an upset, didn't it? The last match of the day for me was Mattek-Sands/Nestor vs. Chan/Hanley on Court 11. I'd watched men's dubs and women's dubs, so of course I had to throw a mixed match in there. If only they'd do away with no-ad scoring. And in case you weren't aware, Nestor's a beast at net.
Another wonderful tennis trip in the books. Click on the link below to see my photo album (just so you know, I give away the identities of the TWibers in there):
U.S. Open photo album
If you were at the Open and would like to tell us about it, feel free. For the rest of you, go as off-topic as you please or use this space to share your own Open memories. Consider the following:
What breakthrough player(s) will you now be following?
What was the most shocking moment or match result?
What moments made you LOL?
What was your favorite match?
Which of the dozens (okay, so it wasn't that many) of ESPN commentators did you like the best? Or mind the least...
What weather condition was more annoying - the stifling heat or swirling winds?
It's good to be back. See you in the Comments!
