I was looking through old e-mails and I realized that my friends and I have been going to the US Open for ten years! Wow, it's always been so much fun, time just flew by! Last week's annual trip was super fun again...
When I saw the schedule for our night, I was a little bummed about who we would see. I think the world knows I would always want to see Roger, but instead the powers-that-be decided to put on a match that could possibly have a hint of crazy in it. I'm not really a fan of the crazy but...what can you do? And so we got ready to watch world #3 Andy Murray take on young Aussie Nick Kyrgios. And I really looked forward to the second match between two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova vs a qualifier from Germany. I love Kvitova and couldn't wait to see her play live.
I won't rehash the crazy that happened with regards to Kyrgios before this tournament, because it was just stupid and really beyond the pale, in my opinion, but I will say that I really hadn't enjoyed Kyrgios before it happened, so he moved even further down my list. I probably made a mistake telling my pals about the brouhaha, so I may have influenced them a bit. Oh well. Let's just say that Murray had another group of five cheering heartily for him up in the cheap seats.
OK, cheap isn't quite the word here. Golly, the cost of US Open tickets have gone up! I guess they have to pay for that new roof somehow. And, wow, we were having a really close-up view of that roof!
Going back to the top of the evening, I took the LIRR from Penn Station out to the tennis. Penn Station was CRAZY; I almost didn't make the train, but fortunately they were holding the train for another reason, which worked out for me. The train was also full, with both tennis fans and Mets fans, since there was also a game at Citifield that night. But thankfully, the baseball fans all wanted to glom together by the doors, so I was able to get a seat for the 20-minute ride. It was nice.
I met my friends in our usual meeting place, by the gorgeous Mercedes display (with Roger's picture everywhere). We chatted for a few moments while we waited for everyone to arrive, then went to stand in the not-short security line. I had pared down to a very small tote, to try to make things move more quickly, which actually seemed to work. During the qualies, I would stand there forever while they searched every nook and cranny of my bag. But with a smaller bag, that didn't take nearly as long. Yay.
Off we went to the food court, to try to find a table (never an easy thing, but my beautiful gal pal has an eagle eye and always finds one) and pick out which fried foods we want to eat. I got one of my beloved iced teas, but couldn't decide what food I wanted. My generous gal pal offered to share a bit of her dinner with me, which was perfect. As always, we had a great time, laughing and chatting and catching up before going in to watch tennis. And like I said earlier, I did fill my pals in on the Kyrigos mishegos that's been happening over the summer...
The ushers seemed a little less-trained than usual, there were more crowds at the top of staircases, the escalators weren't being watched very closely (I had to tell a group of girls, 'stopping here is BAD!') and there wasn't really anyone helping people find their seats. After ten years, we're pretty good about understanding where our seats are, but we seem to be the only ones. We had to kick people out of our seats since they didn't agree they were in the wrong section, but oh well. All the way up top, which is where we were, there were plenty of empty seats around for people to move to. (I was happy when a group of people in front of us confirmed the section; even though I knew we were right, it's always good to have backup.)
As for the match, it was a pretty good one. Andy Murray wasn't quite on his game, so Kyrgios took advantage early, but couldn't hold onto momentum once he had it. He's ridiculously athletic and hit some quality shots (even I will admit it), but he also hit some boneheaded shots and let dumb things get under his skin. I wondered if he would be on his best behavior for this match, and he wasn't. He yelled at people in the crowd, he argued with the chair umpire. He apparently took naps during changeovers. And after he won the third set, did he take advantage? No, he took a bathroom break. He is young, but he's been on the tour for a couple of years, so he really should know better. There were a lot of really fun rallies, but eventually Andy Murray's experience won out in the end. Thankfully.
There was a fun light show during the break between matches, then the young boy who came out to sing "America the Beautiful" was wonderful. Next up was the Kvitova match. I love her and rooted for her wholeheartedly, but when the announcer said her opponent, Laura Siegemund from Germany, had never qualified for the Open main draw before, I felt bad for her. How exciting to finally qualify and then have to play a former Grand Slam champ?! Bummer. And her nerves got the better of her throughout. She hits hard and flat, but she was having trouble controlling her shots and kept hitting the ball out. She couldn't get her serve working, either, so even though she broke Kvitova once, she didn't hold in the first set At all. The first set was over in about 25 minutes. Even though I was enjoying watching Kvitova in person (and when she is on, it is so impressive), we left after the first set. We were all a little tired from cheering so lustily for Murray (lol) and thought we'd get to the subway before everyone else. Of course, the stands weren't that full for the second match, unfortunately, so it was hard to get any excitement going. That probably didn't help with the feeling tired thing.
We walked up to the subway and when we were on the platform, I looked at my phone to check the US Open app and saw that Kvitova had already won in the time it took for us to walk down from our seats to the subway. Poor Siegemund. I hope she at least got to enjoy New York for a day or two after the qualies. Even though I didn't get to see Roger, we did enjoy some good tennis, it was a beautiful night and it was fantastic to spend time with my pals. I can't believe I have to wait a whole year before we get to do it again...
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