Live Reports From the 2008 Masters Series Cincinnati
Day 1: Sunday
Here is an idea of the lack of seriousness of things. I'm not sure what Tursunov (shirtless back to camera) is doing but I'm sure he is up to no good whatever it is. Gulbis' coach Karl Heinz-Wetter is in the orange and that's James Blake's coach Brian Barker in the sunglasses and "TENNIS" shirt. Blake, practicing on the next court over, is behind Tursunov.
Gulbis, in a moment of focus and intensity, following through on anther huge practice serve.
Youzhny sending a forehand back to Andy Ram.
Lopez and Verdasco. The closest they came to us was when the big camera right in front of us for some reason started playing music (none other than "Eclipse" by Pink Floyd) and Lopez walked over--none too amused--to turn it off.
Stepanek and Berdych high-fiving.
Federer talking with Haas and Haas' hitting partner. The two coaches are talking behind them.
Federer serving a few feet in front of us.
Ferrer firing a backhand against Moya. Obviously the action shot makes him look even more ripped than really is, but let me tell you, the guy is chiseled. That should not come as any surprise, either, if you have seen him play. What an animal that guy is on the court.
Djokovic a few feet in front of us on the stadium court practicing with Davydenko.
Day 2: Monday
Gulbis signing autographs after his win.
Moya and girlfriend on the outer courts.
Safin practicing on Court 8.
Andy Murray practicing on Court 8.
Federer talking to Jose Higueras on the outer courts.
Day 1: Sunday
Well it turns out you can get to a tournament before it even really starts and still have on of the best days of tennis viewing-ever.
That turned out to be the case for me on Sunday in Cincinnati. Two main draw doubles matches were scheduled on the stadium, the final round of singles qualifying was going on on all four match courts, but most of all it was just practice, practice, practice. For die-hard tennis fans, that is often the best part, and on this day that was certainly the case.
First, however, I started with a doubles clash between Americans Jesse Levine and Donald Young against Jarkko Nieminen and Robert Lindstedt. Levine and Young did a nice job holding their own, coming back from a break down in the first set before falling in a high-quality tiebreaker eight points to six. I head elsewhere after that, and later found out that the youngsters also lost the second in 'breaker, as well. Good showing in defeat.
First guy I ran into on the practice courts was, wouldn't you know it, The Greatest Player of All Time, Ernests Gulbis. At least that's what I was ready to anoint him witnessing his coming out party at last year's U.S. Open from the front row of the Grandstand, a straight-set destruction of then-No. 8 player in the world Tommy Robredo. So it turns out you can't go from 100 to 1 in the rankings just like that; unfortunately there has to be a learning process and even for Gulbis--dare I say ESPECIALLY for Gulbis--it is no different. He has had some great results (quarterfinals of the French Open, and playing Rafael Nadal closer than anyone at Wimbledon other than Roger Federer), mixed in with some wretched performances and mental breakdowns. He is one of the few people I know of who is worse at serving out a tennis match than yours truly.
That turned out to be the case for me on Sunday in Cincinnati. Two main draw doubles matches were scheduled on the stadium, the final round of singles qualifying was going on on all four match courts, but most of all it was just practice, practice, practice. For die-hard tennis fans, that is often the best part, and on this day that was certainly the case.
First, however, I started with a doubles clash between Americans Jesse Levine and Donald Young against Jarkko Nieminen and Robert Lindstedt. Levine and Young did a nice job holding their own, coming back from a break down in the first set before falling in a high-quality tiebreaker eight points to six. I head elsewhere after that, and later found out that the youngsters also lost the second in 'breaker, as well. Good showing in defeat.
First guy I ran into on the practice courts was, wouldn't you know it, The Greatest Player of All Time, Ernests Gulbis. At least that's what I was ready to anoint him witnessing his coming out party at last year's U.S. Open from the front row of the Grandstand, a straight-set destruction of then-No. 8 player in the world Tommy Robredo. So it turns out you can't go from 100 to 1 in the rankings just like that; unfortunately there has to be a learning process and even for Gulbis--dare I say ESPECIALLY for Gulbis--it is no different. He has had some great results (quarterfinals of the French Open, and playing Rafael Nadal closer than anyone at Wimbledon other than Roger Federer), mixed in with some wretched performances and mental breakdowns. He is one of the few people I know of who is worse at serving out a tennis match than yours truly.
Here is an idea of the lack of seriousness of things. I'm not sure what Tursunov (shirtless back to camera) is doing but I'm sure he is up to no good whatever it is. Gulbis' coach Karl Heinz-Wetter is in the orange and that's James Blake's coach Brian Barker in the sunglasses and "TENNIS" shirt. Blake, practicing on the next court over, is behind Tursunov.
Gulbis, in a moment of focus and intensity, following through on anther huge practice serve.
Anyway, there are two kinds of practice sessions that are outrageously entertaining to watch. One is when the two players could not be less serious and just basically fool around the whole time. The other is when the two players play a practice set and play it with intensity. Anything in between is still OK, but usually not more worthwhile than, say, watching a real match. Gulbis practiced with Dmitry Tursunov for about 45 minutes on Court 5, and to say it qualified in the former category would be an understatement. Gulbis always seems to be in good mood and laughing about anything, but when Tursunov keeps his whining to a minimum, you know things are pretty light-hearted out there. These guys were having a great time with each other and seem to be really good friends. Unfortunately they weren't speaking English so it must have been Russian. I have to admit, Tursunov IS Russian and I am still surprised he speaks it. That's just how Americanized this guy is. I bet he hasn't been to Russia in over 10 years other than for the occasional ATP event or Davis Cup tie. It was clear, though, that they were joking around the whole time. At one point during a practice point Tursunov hit a shot that's hard to describe, but as a ball approached high and slow, he did some kind of 360 spin then hit a right-handed smash facing the wrong way over his right shoulder for a cross-court winner that skidded off the sideline. Gulbis laughed even more than usual for that one.
Next on the practice courts was Mikhail Youzhny. He hit with doubles specialist Andy Ram before Ram warmed up with his partner, Jonathan Erlich. Youzhny has a blockbuster first-round matchup on his hands against Tommy Haas.
Next on the practice courts was Mikhail Youzhny. He hit with doubles specialist Andy Ram before Ram warmed up with his partner, Jonathan Erlich. Youzhny has a blockbuster first-round matchup on his hands against Tommy Haas.
Youzhny sending a forehand back to Andy Ram.
After that we went back over to the stadium for the next main draw doubles match featuring four of the top 27 singles players in the world: Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez vs. Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych. We were front row for this, of course, also. It was high-quality stuff and neither team could manage a break of serve until the Spaniards served at 5-6, deuce (it is no-ad in doubles now so that deuce point was both a break and a set point for the Czechs). A great point with a lot of quick exchanges at the net ended with Berdych and Stepanek winning it, so they won the set 7-5. They ended up winning the second in a tiebreaker, but I didn't stick around...
Lopez and Verdasco. The closest they came to us was when the big camera right in front of us for some reason started playing music (none other than "Eclipse" by Pink Floyd) and Lopez walked over--none too amused--to turn it off.
Stepanek and Berdych high-fiving.
...And it's a good thing we didn't stick around because we ran into none other than Roger Federer. A qualifying match that I went to see on the Grandstand had just ended when I arrived and I was about to leave when Tommy Haas walked up to the court. I considered watching him practice, and then realized he was going to be practicing with Federer when I saw Federer's coach Jose Higueras hanging around. I quickly staked out a front row seat on the Grandstand baseline and Federer arrived after about five minutes. They warmed up for about 30 minutes and then much to the delight of the fans played a practice set. It was good tennis but not too serious until Federer lost the first point of the tiebreaker on his own serve. He angrily smashed a ball hundreds of feet out of the stadium and probably over the nearest parking lot. Not surprisingly he won six straight points thereafter and took the tiebreaker 7-2.
Federer talking with Haas and Haas' hitting partner. The two coaches are talking behind them.
Federer serving a few feet in front of us.
It was already getting late in the afternoon and very few fans were still around the grounds, but we headed over to court 3 and the Stadium to see if anything else was going on. There was. Novak Djokovic was practicing with Nikolay Davydenko in the Stadium and Spaniards David Ferrer and Carlos Moya were slugging it out on court 3. All of this while almost nobody else was anywhere around!
Ferrer firing a backhand against Moya. Obviously the action shot makes him look even more ripped than really is, but let me tell you, the guy is chiseled. That should not come as any surprise, either, if you have seen him play. What an animal that guy is on the court.
Djokovic a few feet in front of us on the stadium court practicing with Davydenko.
That's all for Day 1! The Monday schedule looks incredible, starting with Gulbis vs. Nieminen on the Grandstand and ending with Young vs. Monfils in the Stadium. Stay tuned!
Day 2: Monday
Since I enter trough the players entrance, the day started with me walking into the tennis center through rows and rows and rabid tennis fans. Talk about one of your all-time letdowns when you are waiting for No. 1 player in the world, maybe the greatest tennis player ever, 12-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, and all you get is Ricky Dimon!
I hung out for a while in the players lounge before the matches started; Jose Acasuso was in there eating breakfast, Richard Gasquet was just hanging out, Gulbis' dad was in front of me in the breakfast line, Kevin Anderson was in the computer lounger, and Ivo Karlovic literally had to duck to get out of the bathroom. I got on the computer shortly before 11:00 and at 10:52 Jarkko Nieminen, scheduled to play Ernests Gulbis in exactly eight minutes, got on the computer next to me to check the draw of the Challenger event in his hometown of Finland!
I guess he should have been more concerned about the match at hand, because it did not go so well for Jarkko. Both he and Gulbis had plenty of chances to win a relatively low-quality first set, but the Latvian saved a set point in the tiebreaker and eventually won it 9-7. Gulbis played a lot better and more importantly smarter, so he ran the veteran right off the court pretty quickly in set two.
Gulbis serving to Nieminen.
I hung out for a while in the players lounge before the matches started; Jose Acasuso was in there eating breakfast, Richard Gasquet was just hanging out, Gulbis' dad was in front of me in the breakfast line, Kevin Anderson was in the computer lounger, and Ivo Karlovic literally had to duck to get out of the bathroom. I got on the computer shortly before 11:00 and at 10:52 Jarkko Nieminen, scheduled to play Ernests Gulbis in exactly eight minutes, got on the computer next to me to check the draw of the Challenger event in his hometown of Finland!
I guess he should have been more concerned about the match at hand, because it did not go so well for Jarkko. Both he and Gulbis had plenty of chances to win a relatively low-quality first set, but the Latvian saved a set point in the tiebreaker and eventually won it 9-7. Gulbis played a lot better and more importantly smarter, so he ran the veteran right off the court pretty quickly in set two.
Gulbis serving to Nieminen.
Gulbis signing autographs after his win.
Moya and girlfriend on the outer courts.
Safin practicing on Court 8.
Andy Murray practicing on Court 8.
Federer talking to Jose Higueras on the outer courts.
Ginepri during his win over Jonas Bjorkman.
View from the top row of the stadium of the Grandstand. Ginepri serving with Dad in the front row.
Rafael Nadal practicing with Uncle Toni in the stadium after the night session concluded.
That's all for Day 2! A loaded Day 3 lineup will begin with John Isner playing Andrea Stoppini on the Grandstand and will end with an outstanding night session with Andy Roddick vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber (rematch of the epic Australian Open match) and a doubles clash of Isner and Mardy Fish vs. Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra.
Day 3: Tuesday
As usual Tuesday started with some practice-court sessions, since the tournament gates open well before 10:00 and match play doesn't start until 11:00. The Bryan Brothers were out on Court 10 and it is sometimes even more fun to watch them practice than it is to watch them play a match because they do all kinds of incredible quick-hands doubles drills. Today, of course, was no different, although it perhaps was not quite intense as some workouts since the Bryans have a bye and don't play until Wednesday. Philipp Kohlschreiber and Janko Tipsarevic practiced in the stadium with very few fans around so I also watched some of that from the front row. Kohlschreiber was scheduled to play Andy Roddick during the night session (but Roddick withdrew minutes before the match), and Tipsarevic had a huge first-round clash with Carlos Moya on his hands, second match of the day in the stadium.
Mike and Bob Bryan on Court 10.
Philipp Kohlschreiber returning a shot to Janko Tipsarevic in the stadium.
John Isner blasting another serve against Andrea Stoppini.
Mike and Bob Bryan on Court 10.
Philipp Kohlschreiber returning a shot to Janko Tipsarevic in the stadium.
First up on the Grandstand was our man John Isner from UGA, who is 6'9'', and Dad staked out the normal front row spot on the baseline way before the match so we had it for Isner-Stoppini as well as every other match all day, not to mention all three days. Isner played pretty bad other than his usual huge serving so he had to win the first set in a tiebreaker. To sat winning tiebreakers is something Isner is used to would be an understatement, so I doubt he was ever too nervous about the situation, and if he has he did not look it. He picked up his all-around game considerably in set two and had a more comfortable time with Stoppini thereafter. Isner hit a ball into the stands in celebration after match point and Dad I must admit made a stellar left-handed catch over the shoulder!
John Isner blasting another serve against Andrea Stoppini.
Fortunately Isner got the job done in straight sets, because that gave me time to head over to the practice courts for Rafael Nadal (hitting with Feliciano Lopez). Hordes of people--probably more than I have ever seen at a single practice session even though this event is small compared to U.S. Open and Miami standards--were all over Nadal and Court 5, but not surprisingly I finagled my way right up to there fence only a few feet from where Nadal's chair was stationed. I watched him practice with Lopez for about 10 minutes and then he came over and talked to Uncle Toni and Albert Costa while taping his hands and doing whatever else he does to them.
Nadal preparing to return a Lopez serve during practice on Court 5.
I'm probably no more than five feet from Nadal right here.
On his way back to the players lounge Nadal was swarmed like I have never seen before. I'm not big into autographs but for Nadal I briefly tried to get one until I quickly found out that the only people who are successful in that effort are the ones who push, shove, and trample dozens of innocent bystanders. Nadal seriously could not walk back to the players lounger. It was more like he was shoved from behind by crazed fans and dragged from the front by at least two tournament volunteers, who were also busy pushing people out of the way to clear a path. The guys is the Beatles of the 1960s. And this is tennis for crying out loud. People don't even LIKE tennis!
After that madness I went into the stadium, where there might have been less people than there were for Nadal on Court 5, for the second set of Carlos Moya vs. Janko Tipsarevic. I picked Tipsarevic to win this because Moya is having a relatively poor year at 31 years of age, but fortunately (even though I like Tipsarevic) the old guy pulled out a high-quality contest in two tight sets. A very good win for Moya.
After that madness I went into the stadium, where there might have been less people than there were for Nadal on Court 5, for the second set of Carlos Moya vs. Janko Tipsarevic. I picked Tipsarevic to win this because Moya is having a relatively poor year at 31 years of age, but fortunately (even though I like Tipsarevic) the old guy pulled out a high-quality contest in two tight sets. A very good win for Moya.
Moya after defeating Janko Tipsarevic.
Next it was back to the front row of the Grandstand for Tommy Robredo and Robin Soderling. I wanted to catch a few games up close before heading back over to the top row of the stadium so I could watch Federer and Ginepri there while also having a view of Robredo-Soderling. From there I saw the Grandstand's first-set tiebreaker, which Soderling unfortunately won. In the stadium Ginepri ended up winning the first set against Federer and then served for the match at 6-5 in the second. Not surprisingly Ginepri got a little tight at that moment and Federer broke to send it into a tiebreaker. It was all Federer after that, both in the 'breaker and especially in the third set. I was out of there after he got up a double-break in set three and of course he ended up bageling Ginepri 6-0.
Ginepri serving to Federer. View from the top row of the Stadium.
Ginepri serving to Federer. View from the top row of the Stadium.
I actually left for a few games during the second set because I figured (correctly, but just barely) that Federer would win the second and allow me to watch a third set. So I headed back over to the practice courts and smaller match courts for Gulbis-Seppi and Blake-Querrey practices and the Simone Bolelli vs. Kevin Anderson match.
Gulbis about to serve to Seppi on Court 7.
Seppi right in front of me after practice.
Gulbis about to serve to Seppi on Court 7.
Seppi right in front of me after practice.
James Blake, practicing with doubles partner Sam Querrey on Court 8. They lost their night match against fellow Americans Todd Widom and Michael Yani.
The Federer-Ginepri match was the last day match in the Stadium and a series of withdrawals could have put a damper on the rest of the day and night, but fortunately some other matches picked up the slack (withdrawals included Roddick pulling out against Kohlschreiber, Kiefer who was supposed to play Simon, Tipsarevic who was slightly injured against Moya so he defaulted his doubles match with Fernando Gonzalez against Karlovic and Wassen, and Llodra who retired during his day match against Richard Gasquet, forcing him out of his doubles match with Arnaud Clement against Isner and Mardy Fish). Plus I went to both Ginepri's and Federer's press conferences and those were awesome even though neither one was in a particularly sparkling mood. Ginepri actually felt better than Federer about his performance because, after all, he played great for two sets and served for the match against the No. 1 player in the world.
I was looking forward to Simon and Kiefer but not so much to Simon and lucky loser Rajeev Ram, so instead Dad and I went over to the front row of court 3 for that all-American doubles match. Widom and Yani played well and scored a minor upset over Blake and Querrey, although they had to go to a third-set match tiebreaker to win it.
Querrey and Blake on Court 3.
That was where we heard Roddick announce to the stadium crowd that he couldn't play, so instead of a rematch of an epic Australian Open showdown from earlier this year, Kohlschrieber got to play lucky loser Woong-Sun Jun. Needless to say we went back to our spot on Grandstand for Igor Andreev vs. Radek Stepanek rather than sit around for that garbage in the stadium. Andreev-Stepanek turned out to be the best match of our visit so far, and Andreev ended up winning in a third-set tiebreaker. It lasted longer than two matches on stadium combined (Kohlschreiber destroying Jun and Isner and Fish beating lucky loses Ti Chen and Philip King).
Andreev throwing his wristband into the Grandstand crowd after outlasting Stepanek.
I was looking forward to Simon and Kiefer but not so much to Simon and lucky loser Rajeev Ram, so instead Dad and I went over to the front row of court 3 for that all-American doubles match. Widom and Yani played well and scored a minor upset over Blake and Querrey, although they had to go to a third-set match tiebreaker to win it.
Querrey and Blake on Court 3.
That was where we heard Roddick announce to the stadium crowd that he couldn't play, so instead of a rematch of an epic Australian Open showdown from earlier this year, Kohlschrieber got to play lucky loser Woong-Sun Jun. Needless to say we went back to our spot on Grandstand for Igor Andreev vs. Radek Stepanek rather than sit around for that garbage in the stadium. Andreev-Stepanek turned out to be the best match of our visit so far, and Andreev ended up winning in a third-set tiebreaker. It lasted longer than two matches on stadium combined (Kohlschreiber destroying Jun and Isner and Fish beating lucky loses Ti Chen and Philip King).
Andreev throwing his wristband into the Grandstand crowd after outlasting Stepanek.
That's all for Tuesday! The weather does not look good for tomorrow, but if it holds off another incredible lineup of matches in store. It will begin with Gulbis vs. Arnaud Clement on Court 3 and end with a night session featuring Nadal in the Stadium and Moya vs. Nikolay Davydenko on Grandstand.
Day 4: Wednesday
The weather looked grim (although the radar looked worse than the actual weather) and I was not confident about watching much tennis today, but we still headed over to the tennis center early in time for some more practice-session watching. It drizzled a little bit before 11:00 but not enough to force anyone off the practice courts. We watched Gulbis and Seppi warm up on Court 4 for while. I guess they must be good friends since they also practice with each other yesterday. That's another cool thing about the practice courts; you find out which players get along with each other, which is interesting to see beyond the natural all-American, all-Spanish friendships. After some of Gulbis-Seppi I went over to the Stadium to watch summer sensation Gilles Simon (he won Indianapolis and reached the semifinals of the Masters Series Canada) warm up with his coach. He was getting ready for the first match of the day in the Stadium against James Blake. After that I headed over to Court 3 to stake out a front row seat for Gulbis-Clement, so I saw the end of Tomas Berdych practicing with doubles partner Radek Stepanek.
Dad at the practice courts with Gulbis and coach in the background.
Me at the practice courts, with press pass.
Gilles Simon practicing in the Stadium.
Tomas Berdych sending a forehand back to Radek Stepanek on Court 3.
Clement, with the trademark shades (despite the fact that every moment it seemed like it was about to thunderstorm). He put them on after the first set and promptly started dominating, racing to a 3-0 lead in set two.
Two Gulbis fans holding a sign (with Gulbis' autograph in the middle).
Gulbis signing autographs after the win.
Djokovic serving to Bolelli.
Isner serving another bomb to Andreev.
Andreev giving a thumbs up to his supporters, sitting right near us on the front row. During the third set he had a look of "How am I still in this match?" and afterwards he had that same kind of look.
Gasquet sending a serve Tursunov's way.
Davydenko getting his usual ridiculous coil and back arch on serve.
Nadal vs. Serra from the top row of the Stadium.
The Grandstand. Davydenko and Moya playing a first-set tiebreaker.
Dad at the practice courts with Gulbis and coach in the background.
Me at the practice courts, with press pass.
Gilles Simon practicing in the Stadium.
Tomas Berdych sending a forehand back to Radek Stepanek on Court 3.
The rain continued to hold off save for the occasional drizzle so Gulbis and Clement came on court pretty much right at 11:00. Gulbis was heavily favored and he took care of business in the first set with one break of serve even though the tennis was not extremely high-quality. In the second set Gulbis' up-and-down forehand collapsed and the Frenchman leveled things at one set apiece. Gulbis continued to implode and Clement served for the match at 5-4, when he held match point at ad-in. Gulbis saved it and was lucky he didn't fall down another match point after breaking his racket when squandering a break point (he had just received a warning for throwing his racket after getting broken at 4-4, so one more code violation at deuce would have given Clement a match point but the chair umpire held off). Gulbis broke (serve, that is), but got broken again so Clement served for the match once more at 6-5. He also blew that chance and Gulbis caught fire in the tiebreaker to prevail in this see-saw thriller.
Clement, with the trademark shades (despite the fact that every moment it seemed like it was about to thunderstorm). He put them on after the first set and promptly started dominating, racing to a 3-0 lead in set two.
Two Gulbis fans holding a sign (with Gulbis' autograph in the middle).
Gulbis signing autographs after the win.
The David Ferrer vs. Nicolas Lapentti match on Grandstand lasted just as long as Gulbis-Clement so I had time to get over there for the start of Tommy Haas vs. Gael Monfils. Haas was on fire early on, but unfortunately some of that had to do with Monfils being sick and unable to track down all of the balls that he normally does. After finally getting on the scoreboard to trail 5-1 in the first set, Monfils called it quits.
Next up was John Isner going up against Igor Andreev, but in between matches I caught a few games of Novak Djokovic taking on Simone Bolelli in the Stadium. I saw Djoker win the first set in a tiebreaker and he ended up winning a close contest in another tiebreaker for the second set.
Next up was John Isner going up against Igor Andreev, but in between matches I caught a few games of Novak Djokovic taking on Simone Bolelli in the Stadium. I saw Djoker win the first set in a tiebreaker and he ended up winning a close contest in another tiebreaker for the second set.
Djokovic serving to Bolelli.
Then it was back to the Grandstand for what turned out to be another extremely long match. Much to the delight of the crowd Isner pulled out the first set in a tiebreaker. Neither man could break serve in the second set, either, and Isner had two match points in the second 'breaker. Both came on Andreev's serve, however, and the Russian saved both with some clutch play. Andreev eventually leveled the match and a decisive (and only) break of serve came with a tired Isner serving at 5-5 in the third. Andreev then served out the match in routine fashion. It was disappointing for Isner, but he really played well (better than he did in round one) and had way more chances to break in the third set than Andreev. The more experienced Andreev was just too clutch and the crucial moments.
Isner serving another bomb to Andreev.
Andreev giving a thumbs up to his supporters, sitting right near us on the front row. During the third set he had a look of "How am I still in this match?" and afterwards he had that same kind of look.
Next up on Grandstand was a blockbuster matchup between Richard Gasquet and Dmitry Tursunov. The first set lived up to it's billing as some incredible shot-making by both players led to a tiebreaker. Gasquet had chances, but Tursunov eventually took it. As he is prone to do, Gasquet disappeared in set two and Tursunov destroyed him 6-0; somewhat of a letdown for a Grandstand crowd that was anticipating a great match all the way through.
Gasquet sending a serve Tursunov's way.
I quickly raced over to the Stadium to catch the last few points of the Bryan Brothers destroying Widom and Yani, then it was back to the Grandstand for the start of Nikolay Davydenko vs. Carlos Moya. This was the last of five straight men's singles matches on the Grandstand; that's the great thing about Grandstands everywhere (Miami, U.S. Open, etc.), it's almost always non-stop men's singles (of course this tournament is men's only anyway) matches, all of which feature great players, but small crowds since Federer and Nadal and other huge-name players suck all the fans into Stadiums.
Moya and Davydenko were playing a spirited first set, but Nadal was absolutely crushing Florent Serra over in the Stadium and I wanted to see at least a few games of Nadal this week so I sprinted over there for the end (to the top row spot, of course, so I could also see Moya-Davydenko). After Nadal finished taking Serra to the woodshed, I got back to the Grandstand to see the first-set tiebreaker, which Moya won after trailing six points to three. Early in the second set we got rain at long last. Wouldn't you know it, though, it came at exactly the right time...
...Because I ran over to media headquarters and got there five minutes before Nadal was scheduled for his post-match press conference. It was the best of the three I attended because Nadal is always animated and in a good mood (it's pretty hard not to be when you are Nadal, I guess). I asked him something along the lines of whether or not he considered this to be an easy match even though he always insists there are no easy matches in professional tennis. Not surprisingly, Nadal seemed embarrassed that he beat the poor guy so bad and he basically reiterated that in general there are no easy matches, but tonight was an exception. He guessed that Serra was "nervous" in those circumstances and "played very bad."
Moya and Davydenko were playing a spirited first set, but Nadal was absolutely crushing Florent Serra over in the Stadium and I wanted to see at least a few games of Nadal this week so I sprinted over there for the end (to the top row spot, of course, so I could also see Moya-Davydenko). After Nadal finished taking Serra to the woodshed, I got back to the Grandstand to see the first-set tiebreaker, which Moya won after trailing six points to three. Early in the second set we got rain at long last. Wouldn't you know it, though, it came at exactly the right time...
...Because I ran over to media headquarters and got there five minutes before Nadal was scheduled for his post-match press conference. It was the best of the three I attended because Nadal is always animated and in a good mood (it's pretty hard not to be when you are Nadal, I guess). I asked him something along the lines of whether or not he considered this to be an easy match even though he always insists there are no easy matches in professional tennis. Not surprisingly, Nadal seemed embarrassed that he beat the poor guy so bad and he basically reiterated that in general there are no easy matches, but tonight was an exception. He guessed that Serra was "nervous" in those circumstances and "played very bad."
Davydenko getting his usual ridiculous coil and back arch on serve.
Nadal vs. Serra from the top row of the Stadium.
The Grandstand. Davydenko and Moya playing a first-set tiebreaker.
So long from Cincinnati! Hopefully see you next year because, well, the only question I have after these four days is why the heck we don't come to this tournament every single year!?!?!?!