Happy New Year!

Hello, internet friends, happy 2017!  I hope everyone's holiday was a safe, happy and warm one.  Mine had its ups and downs, but being with family (well, most of them) is always a treat.  I don't have much planned for the near future, though Restaurant Week is just around the corner and I do have tickets to a couple of shows starting in early February.  But I did kick my year off with a bang last weekend - I headed out to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for some tennis!

I hadn't been planning to get tickets to the PowerShares QQQ Cup, but when a steep discount (thanks to my USTA membership) came my way at about the same time as my delightful year-end bonus, I decided 'what the heck'! I've never been to the Barclays Center before and I've never seen a tournament on the seniors tennis tour before, either. I was especially keen to see John McEnroe and Jim Courier play, both of whom were favorites of mine but I never got to see them play at the US Open.  So, all signs pointed to a good time.


Of course, knowing my luck, I wasn't surprised to see that the first blizzard of 2017 was happening on the day of the tournament.  I didn't really want to go out into the blizzard, especially since I haven't gotten my nice snow boots repaired yet, but I also didn't want to miss the tennis.  Then I remembered that the subway stop is just across from the Barclays Center entrance (I'd noticed it before when going to BAM), so how bad could the commute be?  Well, not bad at all, I'm happy to say!  It did take me an hour to get there, but at least there were no weather delays and the entrance to the arena was well-lit and pretty snow-free.  I exited a block away from the arena instead of across from the entrance, but it wasn't so bad. After an hour on the subway, it was good to stretch my legs for a minute.

There was practically no line at the security entrance, and very few people in the arena itself.  I had done a little research on the concessions at the Barclays Center and was disappointed to see that most of them were closed.  I did finally find one open stand and it was busy-ish, but not too bad.  I picked up a bottle of water and some bagel chips and went to find my seat.  Which was SO close, I was shocked!  The arena is much smaller than I expected - none of the seats were very far from the court.  But I loved being so close.  The arena was about half-empty, I'm sorry to say, and it was hard to get much excitement going with so much dead air, but the crowd certainly perked up for the second match.

The first 'semifinal' was between James Blake and Andy Roddick. You may remember I wasn't a huge fan of Roddick's during his career, but I do admire how he's handled his life post-tennis.  I was, however, a huge fan of Blake's.  I always enjoyed watching him play, and I think he's a great ambassador for sport.  His habit of hurridly fitting in 400 words a sentence, when maybe ten words would suffice, always makes me giggle.  I have to admit to feeling a little depressed that these two guys, playing on the 'seniors' tour, are young enough to be my son.  Sigh.  Moving on.

It was a pretty well-played set, with still potent serving from Roddick and still-powerful forehands from Blake.  Blake moved to the net more during this set than he did during his entire career, I think.  If he had been as willing to move forward when he was playing, he might've done more damage.  Maybe.  Anyway, the match was pretty even, with some really good rallies, but Blake unexpectedly broke Roddick's serve in the final game and won the set. The crowd liked that, since Blake is a New Yorker, and they appreciated the effort of both guys.

After the first set, there was a contest for regular joes to try to return Roddick's serve. That was pretty funny.  I'm sure these guys all thought, I bet I can do it! And they all completely whiffed.  Ah, guys. After that little bit of entertainment, then the second 'semifinal' got underway - Jim Courier v John McEnroe.  Of course McEnroe was the heavy crowd favorite, being a big NY icon and also just a colorful character. McEnroe was on fire during this match, Courier kept getting frustrated and at one point dropped his racket and screamed 'what is going on?!'  McEnroe just wasn't missing a thing and he served great.  He still has such quick reflexes and soft hands at the net, his volleys were gorgeous.  I kept trying to capture them in a photo, but never really did.  But I was just captivated by his elegance on the court.

The crowd was thrilled that McEnroe held on to win his match against Courier and would play Blake in the final deciding set.  Now, even though the crowd was sparse, there was some noise happening.  I'm guessing that all the beer that some of the crowd consumed had a little something to do with it, too.

The final match was also good, with some terrific rallies, but Blake was just that.much.better (and younger, but, hey).  He had one return, I think on break point, that was amazing!  Even McEnroe had to clap.  McEnroe may have been the slightest bit tired by the end, but he acquitted himself well against a much younger guy.

Even with the sparse crowds and the lack of concessions, I had a grand time at the event and I'm ever so glad I decided to brave the weather and go.  I would totally go to another event at the Barclays Center again, since the size is really perfect, and I'd love to see another seniors tour tennis event, too!  My new year is off to a great start - let's keep it going!