So, heading to the Open on Wednesday, according to the Weather Channel, there was a zero percent chance of rain. Why oh why did I listen to them?? I went to Court 7, because there were two players I've enjoyed in the past, and then it...rained. :) It was like there was one black cloud, directly over Court 7, and sunshine everywhere else. It was really weird. The players, Frank Dancevic from Canada and Teymuraz Gabashvili from Russia, played through the rain for a bit, then sat for around ten minutes, waiting for it to stop. The ballkids wiped off the court and the match continued.
I've enjoyed watching both Dancevic and Gabashvili play in the past - I've seen Dancevic in the qualies before, and I was at a night match where Gabashvili was electric in a loss to Rafael Nadal. This match, at least the first set, wasn't so electric. Gabashvili was misfiring and was so frustrated, he kept overhitting his shot. He is certainly more explosive than Dancevic, but in the first set, he was also more prone to error. Dancevic stood his ground and won the first set.
The second set was much closer, then at 4-all, Dancevic broke Gabashvili's serve again and served for the match. This was an extremely long game, with a lot of deuce points, but Dancevic just couldn't put his foot down and close out the match. He had five match points but couldn't close. He seemed to back off when he should've been more aggressive. Finally, Gabashvili broke back and I immediately thought to myself, "Dancevic is going to lose now." And...I was right.
Oh, I mustn't forget The Saga of The Ballboy and The Tennis Pro. There is always one ball kid who seems to be the unofficial (or official, I don't really know the ballkid hierarchy)leader of the group. Some are bossier than others (I even have nicknamed one gent Mr Bossy), and this match had a Supreme Boss. He was always waving at the other ballkids to get into position or to throw the balls faster. He was also in charge of giving the players their towels to wipe the sweat. Well, finally, one of the players (I won't say which) said to the bossy ballkid, "Give me the towel. I want the other guy to have it." I don't know if this was in response to the bossiness, or he was just looking to change things up, but this tennis pro completely crushed the bossy ballkid's world. He looked crestfallen. Defeated. His bossiness totally deflated and he spent the rest of the match looking wistfully at the towel that had been taken from him. I kid you not. This was a tv movie of the week waiting to happen. And a cautionary tale. Don't get too bossy. This means you, Mr Bossy.
Anyway, after the end of the second set, it depressed me too much to think about Dancevic losing (which of course he did. I so called that one), so I wandered over to Court 17 to watch Dmitry Tursunov from Russia against James Ward from Great Britain. Court 17 was new last year and we never made it over there. I was looking forward to checking out the new court and to checking out Tursunov. He's a) cute, and b) funny. He's blogged for the official ATP website in the past and is just adorable. He has been ranked as high as 20 in the past, but is working his way back from injury. I got a marvelous close seat, settled in and...it almost immediately started raining. They got through one game before they sat down, then it stopped sprinkling and started pouring, so the players were hustled off the court and the crowd swarmed outside the stadium to stand under the overhang. Sigh. So much for that 0% chance of rain today. Thanks, Weather Channel mobile phone app. We probably stood around for 20 minutes or so, then I wandered over to the new restrooms by Court 17 (thumbs up!), then got a snack at the oh-so-nearby food court. I also came upon a lovely photo of a certain beloved someone... 
I went back to Court 17, dried off a seat, and watched the grounds people squeegie the courts. I think I need one of those squeegie things for my apartment. Finally, the players came back out and we started the match. Tursunov was clearly the better player, but it took him a little while to find his range. James Ward, just like when I watched him last year, became a crankypants pretty quickly. I'm thinking we've discovered one reason why he's still qualifying. The crankypants thing needs to go. He has a nice enough game, though. Oh, and both players were wearing the exact same outfit. I always find that odd. Doesn't a clothing sponsor try to make sure that their players have more than one outfit? Odd. Tursunov won the first set pretty easily, so I decided to head to the grandstand and check out some practicing.
Jackpot! When I got there Tommy Haas, Germany, was practicing with Marin Cilic, Croatia! I like them both, but especially Tommy Haas. Well, for one thing, he's gorgeous, but also, he's such a hard luck story. He's a wonderful player, but has been injured so much, he hasn't really fulfilled his potential. He was actually ranked #2 at one point, but hasn't made the final of a Slam. Yet. He's another one who has been making his way back from injury. And he's done so well, he's raised his ranking from the 200s all the way to the 20s. It's pretty impressive. 
I definitely had a good time watching them practice. Haas has a gorgeous one-handed backhand, of which I never quite got a good photo, and Cilic has a monster serve and forehand. Cilic is another player who hasn't quite reached his potential, but I like his game a lot. I'll be rooting for both of them during the Open. I also got a photo of a shirt change. Yes, I love tennis. I'll include that at the end.
Since Mom was flying in a little later, I decided to leave the tennis a bit early. But Mom and I will be back Thursday. Again, you know the drill - shots of handsome men serving, plus a goofy shot (or two) of me...
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