It's my favorite week of the year! Tennis Week! Last year, I only got to watch tennis for a day and a half, but this year, I got the whole qualifying week in. Though, I will admit, I still don't quite have the stamina I had before. In the old days, I could stay until 7 or 8pm, but this year, I was usually out by 5. I guess I just have to build my tennis viewing endurance back up. :)
This year, my mom came in on Wednesday night, so I had Tuesday and Wednesday viewing by myself, and then Thursday and Friday were with Mom, with the additional bonus day of Saturday for Arthur Ashe Kids Day. Look for those photos/posts later in the week.
Tuesday was a nice day, sunny and warm but not humid. I got to the tennis complex around 11am, and went straight to Court 7 to watch the American, Alex Kuznetsov, take on Karol Beck from Slovakia. I have to say this was a boring match. Both were perfectly pleasant players, but neither guy had much of a game plan, they just hit it back and forth, waiting for the other to make a mistake. That doesn't make for a compelling match. After the first set (won by the American, but he lost the match in three sets), I made my way to another match. That one was much more interesting.
Over on Court 14, I watched the second set of the match between Amir Weintraub from Israel and Mathieu Rodrigues from France. Rodrigues had lost the first set and was quite the crankypants throughout the second. Weintraub had a nice forehand and was definitely the more aggressive player - he was trying to make something happen instead of waiting for Rodrigues to make a mistake (which he did, quite a lot, but still). I liked Weintraub's game and wish I would've made it to his second round match on Thursday. I will definitely keep my eye on him. He was quite adorable after he won, raising his arms in victory and then high-fiving a lot of the spectators. The Israeli fans are always very vocal and supportive. 
The next match on Court 14 featured a gal I've enjoyed in the past, Aravane Rezai from France, so I thought I'd stick around and watch a bit of her match against Zheng Saisai from China. Rezai has been ranked in the top 20 in the past and I once saw her play Serena Williams really tough, so I thought it would be fun to see her continue her comeback from injury. Well, not so much. She was just hitting the ball so hard, mostly hitting it out. There was some mindless tennis going on there, and once she got broken, I decided to move on. It's so frustrating when you see a good player fail to achieve their potential. Plus, I was starting to feel a little warm...
I moved to Court 10, because there was a little shade there to be found, and watched Agustin Velotti of Argentina play Andrey Golubev from Kazhakstan. This match featured a lot of exciting rallies, with some pretty good net play. It's always nice to see players actually try to head to the net for a volley, since most of these qualifying hopefuls play exclusively from the baseline. Golubev was clearly the more accomplished player, though, and won the match quite handily, though Velotti put up a pretty good fight.
After I watched this match, it was time for an iced tea break. I went over to the food court, got some iced tea (I really enjoy the Illy iced tea) and sat in the shade for a few minutes. I took the time to check some e-mails, perused the scores from around the grounds, and just generally relaxed for maybe twenty minutes or so. Then I decided it was time to head to the grandstand and see which higher-ranked players were practicing there.
I was very excited to see Richard Gasquet from France practicing with Milos Raonic from Canada. I like both players very much. Mom and I actually watched Gasquet in the qualies one year - he threw his racquet and accidentally hit a linesperson. He was defaulted immediately (this was quite a long time ago, maybe 2004?). He was so remorseful, my mom and I felt really sorry for him. We've rooted for him ever since. And I've enjoyed watching Raonic ever since he burst onto the scene last year in Australia. So this was an enjoyable practice to watch.
Suddenly, I remembered who is coaching Gasquet now: Sebastien Grosjean! Grosjean was my very favorite player (after Roger, of course)! So I decided I needed to get some Grosjean photos along with the players. Once I love someone, forget it. It's forever. I still have my Grosjean-autographed tennis ball proudly displayed in my apartment. :) This was a very lively practice, with wonderful ballstriking and the gorgeous one-handed backhand of Gasquet. Along with the gorgeous coaching of Grosjean...
After Gasquet and Raonic finished their practice, Mikhail Youzhny from Russia wandered into the grandstand for practice. I'm guessing his partner didn't show up, because Raonic stayed and practiced again. Good thing he's only 21 or so. He's young enough to practice twice in a row. I've always enjoyed watching Youzhny. He hits the ball so cleanly. His career has been so up and down, you have to think the problem has been between the ears. Because when he's playing well, it's gorgeous.
I was meeting a friend for dinner, so I decided to sneak out a little early. I realized a little lie-down in my air-conditioned apartment would be good before dinner. I really do get overheated quickly nowadays. And I had seen quite a bit of good stuff for just the first day.
Just a brief mention of dinner: I met a friend at DiWine near my house. I haven't seen this friend since January, which is sad. I used to see him all the time, but...I don't know. I think he's unhappy, but he doesn't want any help out of his unhappiness. I wish he'd let his friends in more. But, he's an adult, yes? I can't help someone who doesn't really feel like he has a problem. And maybe he doesn't. Maybe it's my problem. I don't know. I do know that I love him and that it's frustrating that he shuts people (meaning me) out. Sigh. We did have fun, though. My pizza and wine were delicious, we laughed a lot and we went for a little neighborhood stroll afterwards. Hopefully, it won't be another six months before we get together again...
Tomorrow, the saga of the Ballboy and the Tennis Pro. It's compelling. I'll conclude today with some shots of players serving, a self-portrait and my attempt at getting a picture of a picture of Roger and me. It looks like he's yelling at me... ;)
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