When the lineup for this year's BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden was announced, I thought, hey, I'd like to see them! Then promptly forgot about it. I'm gathering this particular group of athletes didn't set the box office on fire, so when a $20 discount offer came my way, I finally picked up a ticket. Boy, am I glad I did!
My seat was a little further back than last year, but when I looked at what I paid for last year's ticket, I wasn't surprised. For $20, sitting in the 200 section this year was not such a bad deal. And at least this year, I was sitting in a location where I could see the whole court, instead of at one end, where I could mainly only see the backs of people.
Because last year's event was packed, I remembered the security lines being terrible and I missed quite a bit of the first match because I was stuck in line outside. This year, I left work early-ish to head to Madison Square Garden. Again, probably due to the athletes on the marquee, there wasn't much of a line this year, which was good on one hand and sad on the other. There were quite a few empty seats in the house, but everyone who did come out had a good time, I think, and we saw some really fine tennis. The lack of exciting signage outside was a bit of a drag, though. Sorry to not have some good outdoor shots to share. Actually, sorry to not have many good shots of anything to share. Perhaps this year, the goal should be photography classes...
Since I got to my seat extra early, thanks to the lack of a security line mashup, I got to watch the pre-show match between two juniors, whose names escape me. I'm very sorry, talented juniors. I enjoyed watching you play, both of you. One gal had a nice baseline game, though she had a hard time controlling her power, and the other gal had a nice all-around game with lots of approaches to the net. I think they both have a good future and I hope I remember their names someday. I'm only sorry there were so few people seated in the arena for their match. The atmosphere still felt a little flat, though those of us who were there tried to give them lots of loud support.
Before the first big match, some adorable kids came out and danced a bit, then a small choir from, uh, Kips Bay? (my memory is shot), came out to do the national anthem. They were very good, then they did another little song in tribute to Serena Williams, who would be playing a bit later. It was very cute when Serena came out to sing with them - the kids were very excited to be standing next to her. Very cute.
Finally, our first main event. The first match was between two of my favorites not named Federer: Stan Wawrinka from Switzerland and Gael Monfils from France. I enjoy both their games, and their personalities, very much. They're rather polar opposites - Stan is more a traditional, serious grinder-type athlete and Monfils is a born entertainer. It was a nice contrast in styles and personalities, though they both had a huge smile on their face the entire time. There was lots of gorgeous tennis - Stan's one-handed backhand is a joy to behold in person, and Monfils' joie de vivre is beyond compare. I wish I had gotten a better picture of them, but I did steal one incredible shot off the internet. I'll put my version of that shot here, and the excellent professional photographer shot down below. Back to tennis: Stan built up a couple of leads in the first set but just couldn't capitalize on them, so Monfils took the first set in an exciting tiebreak.
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| photo credit: Anita Aguilar |
Before the match, I had predicted (to myself) that Monfils would probably win, since he would be in his element performing for an enthusiastic crowd, and Stan might be a little tired - he just won a tournament in Dubai. The second set did feel a bit more pre-ordained for Monfils, he had just a little more juice in his step and charm/excitement practically visibly pouring off him. For a little fun, Serena and Caroline came out for a little mixed doubles action for a couple of games in the second set. This was very light-hearted and enjoyable, with the players wearing mics so we could hear their conversations and reactions. It was really funny when Serena told Stan that her sister Venus would've gotten to a shot that he missed. Then, later, when Serena told Caroline to 'get him,' Stan reminded Serena that she was supposed to be HIS teammate! Very fun stuff. When Monfils served for the match, at match point, suddenly he went into the crowd and had a guy come out and play for him. Then Stan did the same thing. The chair umpire was very confused, but Monfils and Stan had fun with it. Finally, Monfils closed the match out with a stylish ace and we were done. Lots of hugging and high fives - you can tell these two enjoy each other and have a nice camaraderie. The post-match interview was adorable and all-in-all, this was one of the most enjoyable matches I've seen at MSG.
After the gents finished, we met four little kids who were dressed as the four adults, and they were all ADORABLE. The little Serena clone was especially delightful. The kids played for a bit, demonstrating the new way kids are being taught tennis at many clubs around the country. After they finished, the Serena clone and the Caroline clone stayed behind to sit with their doppelgangers. It was very sweet. Caroline even played with the little ones for a few minutes when Serena took a bathroom break. During changeovers, you could see the ladies talking to the little girls - it was pretty charming, I must say.
The ladies' match was definitely less light-hearted than the men's. Even though it was played in good spirits, it was much more serious and competitive (not that the gents weren't competitive and trying to win, it just was more easygoing, on the whole). Serena was trying to work on a few things in her game, it seemed, and Caroline doesn't really have the firepower to compete with that. Caroline gets back a lot of balls, so there were lots of wonderful rallies with the full gamut of shotmaking, but ultimately this match, as usual, was on Serena's racquet. And her superior skills helped her rise above. Though, I should say that I only saw the first set. I was getting pretty tired by this time and my seat neighbors had worked my last nerve, so I thought I'd better get out while I could. Anything could've happened in the second set and I wouldn't know. But at least I taped the broadcast - I'll be sure to watch it and see what I missed in the second set. I do know Serena won in straight sets. :)
Seat neighbor report: when I arrived, there was no one in my section except for one woman in the row in front of me. She had settled in to her seat and also the seats around her, with lots of bags and belongings. Finally, a gent arrived to sit in her row. Next to her. She proceeded to yell at him for sitting next to her. He kept saying 'it's my seat, deal with it.' She said she was going to get someone in authority. He said, 'fine, it's my seat, go right ahead and get someone. They'll be on my side.' Finally, that seemed to shut her up, so she moved to another seat. When THAT seat owner arrived, I was afraid that someone was going to get a beatdown from this woman, but thankfully, it didn't happen. She finally settled down and only took up her allotted personal space. But I was worried for a bit.
In my row, there was a group of ten people, all of whom got up at least five times during the match. And always one at a time. So I was either getting up or swiveling around to let them out pretty much during the entire evening. After a couple of the gents had a few beers, they started putting their hands on my shoulders to get by. Oh no. Don't be touching me, drunk guys. I figured by the end of the match, it might've gotten ugly, after their having a minimum of five huge beers each in the span of around four hours. So besides my being tired, I was trying to avoid the drunks.
I'm glad I went last night - it was high spirited and a lot of fun, with tons of good tennis. I've been to a lot of these events and this may have been my favorite. Well, my favorite that didn't include Roger, of course. Let's put some healing thoughts out there that Roger's knee problems will be over soon and I'll be able to enjoy his beautiful tennis again soon...
I'll put some more photos below. The ones on top are from my cell phone, then I'll put a few I got with my (still borrowed) camera, followed by a couple from the internet, which I will of course take down if so asked:
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