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TENNIS TOURNAMENT 2007 |
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Blog From The US Open US OPEN DAY 1 | US OPEN DAY 2 | US OPEN DAY 3 | THE ROAD HOME Click here for PICTURES! Click here for MOVIES! Wow, what an incredible day! We managed to hit the road at 8:00 AM and we had a pleasant and largely uneventful drive all the way to Newark. We did take an exit way in the hicks of Pennsylvania to get some gas and it ended up being quite a bit further from the I-81 than we'd hoped, but it was no big deal and as they always are, an interesting smalltown gas station. We had to make a couple of extra turns to find the Robert Treat Hotel but were pleasantly surprised by the location. It is in the Arts District right across from a lovely park and a theatre. Our room overlooks the park, where a mounted police office seems to ride a horse all day, even though the park is quite small. Interesting.
The grounds are extremely active and it takes a few minutes to figure out where to go. The first thing we found was a free radio from American Express so you can listen to a broadcast (it clips on your ear). Then the next thing was an amazing little portable television (also from American Express and free as long as you bring it back) where you can check out television coverage of the Open or even better, watch live matches taking place (there are more than a dozen courts). After trying to figure out if there were matches underway in places other than the Arthur Ashe (main stadium) that we could see, we decided to go to Ashe because we did not want to miss the opening with Aretha Franklin. The opening was a celebration of Althea Gibson and there were about a dozen notable black women introduced, and they sang along with Aretha having a blast. After all of the ceremonies Venus Williams came on to play and destroyed Kira Nagy from Hungary. But we didn't watch the whole match, because thanks to our little TV we figured out there was an upset brewing in Armstrong stadium with Rolle taking the first set over Golovin. So we booted out of Ashe and got awesome seats in Armstrong so close we could hear the players talking to themselves. Rolle is powerful young black American and although the crowd was small, they were really into the match. We got into it pretty quick too, because both players were quite emotional. Rolle totally blew the second set but she came back in the third and pulled off the exciting upset. We hustled out of there and across the grounds on one of the smaller side courts there was a huge crowd hanging from the rafter watching Canas and Hidalgo. This match really had that NYC atmosphere, with the crowd chanting and really getting into it. We ended up standing about three feet from the edge of the court just on the other side of a low fence! Canas turned it on in the fourth and closed it out, so we went back to Ashe because Serena was having trouble with Kerber. We moved down to some pretty good seats, but it was hard to watch the match at times because the ladies in front of us were holding a loud conversation (imagine that at Wimbledon - not!). When the match got close in the second set they actually watched the game, and it was pretty exciting, Serena had to work pretty hard to take it 7-5. It was a long way getting back, with everyone packing onto the 7. By the time we got to WTC, the PATH was on the overnight schedule so we didn't get it until 12:30 AM and got to the hotel about 1:15. Wow, what a day!!! Click here for PICTURES! Click here for MOVIES! Double wow! Day 1 was great, but the final match in Ashe was relatively boring and not nearly as entertaining as everything we'd seen earlier. Not so today! Justin Gimelstob put on a great show with Andy Roddick. This is Justin's last Open (retiring to become a commentator) and he got a ton of love from the crowd. It was well deserved, he played some great tennis against an amazing player - Roddick blasted at least two servers over 140 MPH. Whoa! Just before that we watched Sharapova finishing off Vinci, and even this lopsided match was a lot of fun. We (about 20,000 of us) all went wild in a combination of sarcasm and joy when Vinci won her only game of the match. She had fun with it and shared the moment with the crowd.
We spent the whole day on the smaller courts. It was a massive sold out crowd (people were begging for to buy tickets on the way in) and in all the courts but Ashe regular folks like us face losing their seat and lining up to get back in if you leave for any reason - including to go to the washroom! We waited about 20 minutes to get in to see Massu vs Johansson but it was worth it, Massu is one of those entertaining sorts who talks to himself, the crowd, and invisible people and things as well! What else did we see...Andrei Pavel beat Meffert in four sets, Meffert looks about 7 feet tall, but it is an illusion because he is so thing (he is 6 feet 6 inches, not too shabby). We managed to take a few minutes to just relax with an ice cream cone on the beautiful grounds in front of Ashe, watching on the big screen with the fountain in between our bench and the stadium. It was a good show, with Blake beating Russell in three, but two tiebreakers were needed. We saw bits and pieces of many other matches, including Szavay defeating Kloesel, and Lino beating Cho. What really added to the whole experience today was the many wonderful conversations with strangers. Just about everywhere we sat, we ended up talking with our neighbours. We got lucky with a number of people who shared a similar sense of humour about things. On the way home on the subway Keenan gave up his seat on the crowded 7 for this super lady from Holidaysburg, Pennsylvania. The time flew by thanks to the chatter. Unfortunately we were so relaxed we got on the E going the wrong way and almost ended up in Jamaica! We found ourselves walking the deserted streets of Newark after 2:00 AM. Ah well, it's all part of the adventure. Click here for PICTURES! Click here for MOVIES! The plan was to make it to the Open by 11:00 so we could be there for the start of Dancevic vs Safin. We scarfed down some of the free breakfast here at the Robert Treat Hotel (cereal and bread and that sorta stuff). We didn't quite make it for the start of the match but it was still in the first set and tied. It was unbelievably hot and some of the balding scalps in the crowd were clearly well on their way to serious sunburns. This was a heartbreaker of a match for the Canadians in attendance (there were about a dozen of us randomly shouting "Go Frank!" and one little group even had a special chant). Dancevic clearly had the talent to beat former champ Marat Safin but he couldn't win the big points. He was close to winning all three of the sets that he eventually lost 7-5, 7-6, 7-6. But it was very exciting and we have a young player that is worth believing in! And the Canadians did their country proud by annoying our American neighbours, most of whom did not know why we were shouting "Go Frank!"anyway.
Next came what we think has a good chance to be remembered as the match of the week. Tim Henman turned back the clock for his farewell appearance at the Open with an incredible exhibition of serve and volley (and chip and charge) in a gutsy and sometimes gruelling match. It seemed like every Henman service game went to deuce, and yet he managed to hold off his bigger, younger, and higher-ranked opponent Dmitry Tursonov. The crowd was pulling for Henman bigtime (a few legit brits were about with their Union Jack flags and hats) and it seemed as though the crowd pulled him through some of the tough moments for his 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory. The match was like one long highlight real with lots of wild (in a good way) shots by both players. As is the tradition in recent years, as the winner Henman hit a can of autographed balls into the stands. One of them sailed right over our heads and right out of the stadium. Keenan and many others rushed to the back wall to see what had happened to it, only to discover that three Labrador retrievers living in some sort of staff encampment on the grounds were happily fighting over the ball. After that match we were both kind of drained. The next match at Armstrong featured the talented Jankovic (ranked third in the world) pummeling Govortsova so we wandered around a bit. There is lots to look at other than tennis, but after grabbing a big order of foot long hot dogs we settled into the smaller Grandstand court were Ahsha Rolle was trying to move into the third round after she upset Golovin in front of us on Monday night. It was almost a replay of that match - she won the first set, collapsed in the second, and then things were even in the third until Rolle turned up the power and blew her opponent Karin Knapp of the court. Really fun. Next up was a mixed doubles matched that looked like a lot of fun to watch, but we decided to go back to Armstrong to check out this young US phenom John Isner. The guy is six feet nine inches tall, but he is more than a serving machine and may have a very bright future (we left after only a few games, he later won in straight sets). By 8:00 or so it was time get to Ashe (since we had tickets) to watch Serena polish off her opponent. We snuck our way into some expensive seats to get close to Roger Federer who was up next. He is beautiful to watch but it was kind of boring compared to some of the tight matches we had been watching on the smaller courts, so we headed back out into the grounds to watch the end of a men's doubles match on one of the courts that only has three rows of seats. When the doubles was over we wandered back to where hundreds of people were just relaxing in front of the fountain sorts of half-watching the big screen with the Federer match. We left the grounds for a minute to check out the Unisphere, that big globe and fountain thing that they always show on television. What you can't tell from TV is that the thing is HUGE. It's incredibly beautiful at night. We stopped for a photo, cut back through the grounds, and went to get the 7 train back to Manhattan. We ended up with a minor subway fiasco but it wasn't our fault, and about a dozen people experienced it with us thanks to incorrect instructions from an MTA staff. It meant going the wrong way but only for one stop, and it meant riding on a local instead of an express. But the express was packed to the gills as we passed alongside of it, so it was probably better and maybe even faster to ride the local. From there it was onto the E (we were careful to make sure it was going the right way!) and then the PATH and then a nice walk back to the hotel. The nastiest thing about the subway that we experienced was the dirty air. You feel like you need a very long shower after riding it and walking in the stations. Shower time is when we both discovered sunburns in odd spots that somehow didn't get proper sunblock coverage. Watch for them when we return, prizes will be awarded. Click here for PICTURES! Our only goal for today was to get up in time to get the continental breakfast which ends at noon. This is unusual, but Keenan actually woke up before Julie, but declined to announce that it was 10:00 and went back to sleep. Julie woke up about 10:35 and got things going. We arrived in the breakfast lounge about 10:50 in time to grab the last piece of toast available, scarf some cereal, and borrow some fruit for the trip. Getting out of Newark proved a minor challenge due to the closure of a ramp, but we drove alongside the 280 (past a man who was mowing a large empty lot that was 90% rocks and 10% weeds) heading west until we found a way on. It's not long until the drive is mostly rural, and in fact the entire trip has pretty nice scenery. It was a hot drive the first couple of hours, but then it got overcast and was very pleasant. We did not stop at all until just short of Syracuse where we lucked into this great gas station that has a lunch counter with all sorts of stuff including freshly made subs. They tasted unbelievably good, but maybe that's partly because we didn't eat much more than hot dogs the previous three days. We also took the 481 around Syracuse which might not save much time but it is definitely a nicer drive than the 81 through town.
After three overwhelming days of tennis-watching we immediately turned on the TV to watch tennis and Julie started checking out NYC accommodations in case we decide to go back next year. It really was a blast! This was supposed to be the year we didn't go anywhere, and this all started very innocently. Keenan mumbled something about maybe taking a little "road trip." Julie considered that and thought of maybe going to one of the lodges in Algonquin Park. Keenan saw her looking at the website and asked what she was doing. Thinking this meant Julie was interested in taking a trip, he pondered this and recalled a recent discussion with David and Trish about how it would be really fun to go to the US Open. After some furious research for several days straight, plans were made, reservations were confirmed, and tickets were purchased. It's been six years since the wedding ceremony and this is also year fourteen of our relationship, so hopefully it won't be too big of a shock to the system to be engaging in this wild and spontaneous behaviour! In the week before the start of the Open we followed the qualifying tournament on the web. The qualifier is the way players who weren't ranked high enough to get an initial placement in the tournament can qualify for play. There are only five Canadians at the US Open and four of them are going to have to qualify, so we are hoping at least one of them will make it through to the real show so we can see them on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. We might also stick around on Thursday for a while if there's a really good match, but we are only staying three nights. It's a budget thing. Aleksandra Wozniak will be playing Anabel Medina Garriques (ranked 31st) from Spain in the first round. Wozniak is ranked 93rd in the world. She turned pro in 2005 and is still looking for her big breakthrough in Grand Slam play. Maybe this will be it! Frank Dancevic is ranked 68 in the world, and came very close to making the tournament without having to qualify, and he's the top-ranked player in the qualifying tournament. He's at the top of his game right now. This year he's beaten outstanding players like Andy Roddick (to reach the final at the ATP in Indianapolis) and got knocked out in the quarterfinals by superstar Rafael Nadal in Montreal. Will this be his Grand Slam breakthrough? Frederic Niemeyer is ranked 212 and he's been a pro for more than a decade. Sometimes it's hard to remember that pro sports is a job, and that not every pro athlete is rolling in piles of dough. Niemeyer has made less than $50,000 this year and it's an expensive sport to be in, so here's hoping he can pick up a nice cheque with a career best! Stephanie Dubois is near the top of her game with a current ranking of 120. Last year she made it to the first round of the Open at the age of 19. There's some concern that she doesn't have the power to move up much further in the rankings, but here's hoping she can get through qualifying and we get a chance to see her play. Marie-Eve Pelletier has been to the first round of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, but that was back in 2004-2005. She was once ranked as high as 106 but has slipped back to 184. But it only takes a good win or two at a Grand Slam to make a huge jump in the rankings, so here's hoping it happens! Well, bad news already, of the four Canadians in the qualifying tournament, only Frank Dancevic is continuing on. Niemeyer lost a three-setter to a very good player (Robin Haase) and got a mention on the US Open website for giving Haase a scare. Dubois was upset in her match (also in three sets) by Pironkova. Pelletier got taken out by the talented Parmentier from France. So, Dancevic carries on with one day left in the qualifying tournament, and Wozniak waits to play her first round match on Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully Dancevic will be there too (he'll need to defeat Jan Hernych tomorrow) otherwise our chances of seeing even a single match with a Canadian will be slim to none!
Today we also rented a cargo van and brought our anniversary gift from mom and dad Wellar to our house. It's an antique piece of furniture (similar to a pie cupboard) that is now gracing our dining room and it looks awesome! Check it out for yourself with this short video. This is officially our anniversary, but we aren't celebrating until we get to NYC. Today we got down and dirty the way married couples often do...Julie was cleaning up the garage (still a horrible mess after our move) and Keenan was trying to connect a second television to the satellite signal. Unfortunately there was no signal at all on any TV for a while, but eventually it all got sorted out. Exhausted from the day's activities, we relaxed with some pizza and wings in front of CFL football.
While these cleaning and organizing activities were going on we kept one eye on the computer screen, which is the only place you can follow the US Open qualifying tournament scores. Frank Dancevic gave us a scare (it is very suspenseful when you have to wait for the score to be updated on the screen) with a 7-5, 7-6 victory over tough Jan Hernych. Frank is next scheduled to play Marat Safin, the US Open champion in 2000 and currently ranked 25 in the world. It's a tough way to start but could be an exciting match. With any luck we will get to see it! The weather for Monday-Wednesday sounds really good and we are getting excited to leave. |
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