Rebecca's Rambling Montreal Rants

[The Chloe]

I suppose that it makes sense to do this like Layla did, because damned if I'm typing this out more than once

I guess that I will just jump right into day one, since I've been to this tourmanent three years running now, so my "general impressions" would be rather jaded and disinterested.


Day One


To start off with, let it be known that the Toronto venue is a big pile of burning ash compared to the Montreal venue. The folks in Toronto ought to be ashamed of themselves for calling THAT the "national tennis center". Well...at least until 2004 when the new, bigger, better on is completed In Toronto the practice courts are not even in the park, AND they are covered. In Montreal the practice courts are the outer courts that aren't used and they are easily accessible. It's very fan friendly, especially for such a big event.

Now, unfortunately my notes for day one aren't very good, so I will more than likely get a lot of things out of order and forget the others But i assure you that days two and three will be far more interesting.

So my friend and I make our one hour treck on public transit and pass through the gates unscathed, but for a breif mishap at McDonalds. We take a look at the daily schedule and decide that Schuettler-Youznhy will be a good place to start. With a half hour to kill before matches commence, we wander over to the outer courts where the players practice.

Since the courts in Toronto were covered, it was a bit of a shock at first realizing that we'd be able to see everybody practicing all day long The first pair we saw were Verkerk and Sluiter... Sluiter, btw, is quite handsome. He just needed a shave Verkerk is cute in a fratboy sort of way... and no, I'm not kidding. He's normal looking in person, when he isn't making his faces ;D We didnt't watch them too long because we wanted to rush over for Mikhail and Rainer.

So my friend took off without me to save some seats and I doddled behind... as I'm wandering over to court one a few minutes later, I look beside me to discover Wayne Arthurs walking back from the practice courts. Seeing as he was a foot away and walking on pace with me, I was going to say something to him... but since I'm not really a fan, I decided to leave him alone That, and nobody was paying any attention to him at all so I figured that maybe he liked it that way He's tall

Anyways, I scrambled over to court one so that i could be there when the players came one. Being the geek that I am, I sat right behind Rainer's chair... Rainer, btw, is much better looking in person! I was dissapointed over Mikhail, though. Not just looks wise, but he played like shite. Would it have killed him to hit the ball fair once in a while? Apparently. Rainer won fairly routinely, if you ignore the 2 or 3 rain delays

My first rain delay at a tennis tournament! Can't say that I was overly excited about this, but it did give me some time to sample the fine variety of food that is offered by Tennis Montreal. Dig the hotdogs!

~more to follow~

[The Chloe]

After the rain delay, I decided to skip the end of Rainer and Mikhail to look for somebody I "know' from another board on the practice courts. Most of them were still wet, and one was dry but empty... so I just sat there and waited. Next thing I know, Robredo walks on with Vincente and I totally forget about meeting that person I watched Robredo's entire pratice. I LOVE ROBREDO. Man. He is so hot in person. He has been upgraded about ten notches. RAHR. Oh.. I'm sorry, was I talking about something? Erm, right... I eventually found the person i was looking for right near the end of his practice, and she hung out with my friend and I for most of the rest of the day. Thus when I say "us" or "me and my friends" you know who I mean

After Robredo walked off we looked across to another court and saw that Federer and Mirnyi were practicing, so we shot over there to get some photos. I would have gotten far more, but was informed about on minute into the practice that Ferrero and Guga were on another court practicing, so I ran off

Ferrero and Guga were on one court, and right adjacent to that were Roddick and Dancevic. Everybody was crowding to see Roddick... I doubt that half of them even knew who Dancevic was His side was pretty sparsely crowded, so I snapped a few photos of him. He's not bad looking, in person... more attractive than Roddick That, and he's "the future of Canadian tennis"(whatever that means ), so I had to check him out. Watching Ferrero and Guga was fun, but I only stuck around a few minutes. I was more excited to see Dancevic than Ferrero, lol... I'm a little jaded over Juan Carlos, I guess, having seen him more than half a dozen times now

~more later~

[The Chloe]

The remaining matches that I saw parts of were Blake-Stepanek, Jarkko-Nalbandian, Fish-Younes, and Robredo-Lee.

I believe that Younes-Fish came first, but lord knows with my notes. Younes is just a joy to watch. He's SUCH a character. It's a shame he played somebody I like so much in round two; I'd have loved for him to last all week. Fish, on the other hand.... I always have given him the benefit of the doubt for his explosion at the Australian Open this year, but really... he is so bratty! I really hate to rag on him, but he was the brattiest player that I saw! He has a terrible terrible attitude when he gets down or thinks that a call is going against him. He'd be a much player if he didn't get like that half of the match. It's irritating to watch... it looked especially bad next to Younes, the best sport around. Thank goodness Younes won I only watched the first set, and then ran away in disgust

I went to Jarkko and David in order to take some pictures of both - David for me, Jarkko for Hackie. It was on the same time as Robredo-Lee though, a match that I kind of had more interest in. Neither match ended up being much of a thriller, but being there is enough to make it entertaining Jarkko fought off three match points before the rain cancelled it for the night. Jarkko was serving inthe second at 3-5 0-40, and served well in the clutch to keep himself in it. David then serves and gets down 15-30 and notices that it's raining just a bit. Now, I'm positive that if he had not lost 7 of the past 8 points, that David would have served that match out then and there Instead he looks at the ump, drags his feet a few times to indicate that it's too wet and gets play haulted. A little gamesmenship from my fave, if I may so The match was continued the next day.

Robredo-Lee was at the same time, so I was running between them. It wasn't that interesting of a match, and to be honest I was just staring at Robredo most of the time and couldn't tell you very much about it It also got called before it was over

I think that covers most of day one... there were some random spottings of players practicing, like Henman, Jarkko, Spadea, Davydenko... but nothing worth elaborating on.

[Courtesan]

Hey Becks! Wow!!!!!! That's all day 1?!?!?! Shock and awe, shock and awe. Rebecca, you are so hot, I am sure Wayne Arthurs would have been flattered if you talked to him!

You are one of a slew of people to say Robredo looks so hot in person. I want to see him in person now because maybe the TV isn't flattering to him--that's my opinion

And don't think I won't include the bit about Mardy. I love him, but he IS a brat. That's why I didn't like him for so long. Well, primarily, I hadn't reason to. And then I saw his atrocious behavior! Haha! But Mrs. Guga has a fickle heart that will turn a 180 in a sec. But even when I saw him, he was very bratty and someone yelled out to him 'Stop Whining'

...and that's very nice--all the people you saw practice--like all my faves in one day! No Gonzo though?! Anyway, you knocked 800 birds with one stone! Haha!!!

Hey, did you not see Gonzo at all?!

Wow, this is all day one, wow!!!!!!!

And you don't care you saw Ferrerro?!?!?! Haha! He's not even my favorite player and I think I would be more excited than you. Haha, but I am sure you had seen him on multiple occasions beforehand, huh?! [Okay, I am making an edit on the post because my eyes totally missed the part when you said you've seen him half a dozen times now ]

Oh, well, you are very lucky!!!!!!!!

[The Chloe]

Gonzo said:

Hey Becks! Wow!!!!!! That's all day 1?!?!?! Shock and awe, shock and awe. Rebecca, you are so hot, I am sure Wayne Arthurs would have been flattered if you talked to him!

Yes, that's all day one. I have an exam in acouple hours, and will write up day two after that. Hopefully it will be a little more coherent than Day One was

You are one of a slew of people to say Robredo looks so hot in person. I want to see him in person now because maybe the TV isn't flattering to him--that's my opinion

I never found him all that lusty until I saw him this year. I saw him last year and didn't think much of it but he looked REALLY good this time, lol

And don't think I won't include the bit about Mardy. I love him, but he IS a brat. That's why I didn't like him for so long. Well, primarily, I hadn't reason to. And then I saw his atrocious behavior! Haha! But Mrs. Guga has a fickle heart that will turn a 180 in a sec. But even when I saw him, he was very bratty and someone yelled out to him 'Stop Whining'

He really would do much better if he didnt' whine so bloody much. I tried to ignore it the first couple times, but once I realized it was a habit I was out of there

...and that's very nice--all the people you saw practice--like all my faves in one day! No Gonzo though?! Anyway, you knocked 800 birds with one stone! Haha!!!

I saw Gonzo on day one or day two... hmmm maybe it was day one! See, my friend was looking for Sjeng to get her picture with him and he was just coming off the practice court, so I waited with her. Gonzo came off just before him so I snapped some really close pics... not sure how they will turn out! I love Gonzo!



]

[Layla]

Thanks for this entertaining report, Becca! I think we'll get spoiled soon, expecting reports like these every week, with so many of us going to tourneys.

I'm not surprised Tommy is hot in person, I find him hot on TV as well. Very hot! And Rainer! I'm glad to hear he's even better looking in person.

As for Fishy, thank you for confirming my feeling that he is the brattiest person on the tour. I know you always gave him the benefit of the doubt, when I ragged on him incessantly, but when I saw his AO outbursts, I was never so disgusted watching a tennis match. There was no way I could get over that, call me small-minded and cold-hearted if you wish. He makes Roddick seem like a calm, mature, reserved person, and that's quite an achievement. But that's enough about Mardy, I will strive to ignore him as much as I can.

LOL @ you not being terribly excited about Juanqui's practice. Now that Younes is no longer the devil, maybe I can enjoy watching him play as well. He sounds like a great guy.

[The Chloe]

Day Two

When I looked out the window around 7am on Tuesday, the sky looked about as promising as I do at that time in the morning. Thankfully, the Gods smiled on us that day and there were zero rain delays. It did drizzle a bit, but nothing substantial enough to call off play.

My friend and I do our usual things when we get off the metro - go to McDonals then run over to Jerry Parc to check the schedule of play for the day.

First up was Davydenko vs Dancevic on court one. Dancevic, for those of you who don't know, is the highest ranked Canadian player now. He turns 19 this fall, and has won a couple challengers this year. He was ranked 194 at last check. I wanted to check him out to see if he had any potential or not. I also sort of like Davydenko, after having been brainwashed to, so I was happy either way. Much to my surprise, Frank jumps out to a 5-1 lead. I'm getting a little bit exciting as it's occuring to me that the kid might actually have the upset in him afterall. The crowd was starting to fill up slowly and was really on his side, as you can imagine. Davydenko was hardly getting any applause whatsoever when he won points Well Frank started to play really passively after he played so well for those first 6 games... admittedly, that was not a good match for Davydenko. He was making a LOT of errors, and not being very consistent. Regardless, even on an off day, Frank was not going to beat Davydenko by being defensive - Davydenko is so much better at that. So this let him back into the set, and next thing you know we're into a tie break... same deal as the last few games, sadly. Frank just wasn't going for it anymore, he was just trying to stay in the point. And again... unless your name is Hewitt, Agassi or whoever else, you do not try to beat Davydenko by just hanging around with him So Nikolai took the first set 7-6.

Frank comes storming back to take the second - the court has pretty much filled up at this point, as word of a potential upset flew around the parc Frank then storms to a 3-1 lead.... and I think that he didn't win anymore games after that Once again, he started being passive with the lead, just trying to hold on to it. It was too bad.... I really htink he could have beaten Davydenko that day, but just wasn't using the right tactics at the right time *sigh* The last game was pretty exciting, when Nikolai served for it; Frank had three bps to get it back on serve, but failed to convert any of them. Overall I was quite pleased with Frank's performance, though. He has potential to be good.... for a Canadian

Seems like a pretty nice kid too... he stuck around to sign for a lot of kids and did his interview after the loss right on court. Not that he had a choice... he was stormed with camera's the second he sat down.. poor guy

This was the first match I'd seen in two days that had me on the edge of my seat but that was likely just me being patriotic, since it wasn't a great match really. It's also the first match that I watched in full!

~more to come~

[The Chloe]

Dancevic sort of reminds me of a less sexy version of Marat... lol. It's the curly hair and Adidas wear that does it, I think. He was sort of cute... his profile picture is rather repulsive though, so don't go looking at that for a reference I took a few that I will scan on eventually.

I went over to the practice courts after that match. I was a little deflated! I needed some cheering up On the practice courts I saw: Mattieu and Clement together, Paradorn and his Dad (and a HUGE crowd, lol), Schuettler (again), Lopez, Santoro (for about the 12th time... does he ever leave the practice courts?), Coria (my first live viewing of the little rug rat! yah! he is so not 5'9 ), and the Bryans. Man, one of the Bryans is pretty hot. I mean, they look alike, but one was wearing red and sunglasses and he looked delicious. I took many photos. I believe that it was Bob.

After this I decided to saunter over and see what was going on at the end of the Ancic-Novak match. I joined for a few games in the third set... man. Ancic has the WEIRDEST breathing thing going on. Instead of grunting he just puffs his face out and blows air out like he's whistling, but it's not quite a whistle. It was.. interesting, lol. He also was cursing at himself a lot, but I dont blame him. He wasn't playing well

So that was boring and i decided to run over and catch some of Robredo and Schuettler in doubles. They were playing some people who I don't remember I only watched for few games... doubles is so fun to watch though. Their reaction times are pretty incredible. Well... the good doubles players at least

Walking away from that I saw Enqvist practing on the adjacent court. I thought to myself "didn't you lose in qualies? ouch!", took a few pictures and left

Nalbandian and Jarkko finished their match sometime after the doubles. I got there early to take some pictures - as always Jarkko came on quite a bit before David did. There was a full 5 minutes before Nalbandian got his lazy ass there The officials were talking on their phone-things and saying "um.. where is Nalbandian? We have Jarkko here already!" It was funny... to me at least Jarkko just did some stretching and stuff to loosen up. It was 5-3 15-30 for David in the second set, after having won the first. He promptly lost serve upon his arrival I can't recall if he then won the next two games, or won the tie break? I didn't write the score down... i think that it went to a tie break. Nalbandian won, as you already know. Jarkko seems pretty good natured... hewasn't too down on himself or anything. Just seemed to shrug it off. He was sitting down packing his stuff up and about to get up and leave when he looked behind him and saw a few kids with those stupid big balls. So he turned around - without leaving the chair and reached out for them. So the kids would hang him their ball, he would turn around and sign it, turn back and return it to them I have a couple pictures of him doing this. It was very cute Not many guys sign after a loss.

~more to come~

[Dissident]

LOL I couldnt expect something more Becca-like.
Really great stuff.

Layla is right. We're already spoiled. I WANT MORE!!!

PS - I wont add to the "oh-so-hot" comments...

[The Chloe]

Sometime after Jarkko and Nalbandian I went over to catch Henman and Gonzo. I had been waiting for this match since the draw came out, I was so pumped up for it. Gonzo is so fun to watch - I love him! He's such a character. Whoever says there is no personality in mens tennis is watching the wrong players Henman vs Gonzo was a pretty constrasting matchup... both in terms of style and personality Unforunately it didn't last long. About 5 games into the set Gonzo's knee went on him as he was serving. He doubled over as he was about to jump to serve, and then called out the trainer. He finished off the set and packed it in My first time seeing gonzo play a match live and he was hurt *sigh*

I figured that I would console myself with the fact that rockin-rug-rat Coria was coming out next against pretty boy Lopez ;D. Lopez, btw, is much better looking in real life. He's extremely pretty, lol. Hopefully my pictures turn out The first set looked like it was going okay.... they played a few good points. Unfortunately I was having major back problems and had to leave right after Lopez broke. I lied down outside the stadium to rest my back for a few minutes and came back during the next changeover, just to see that the set had ended and coria had the trainer out. He retired right after that At least I got to see him. I'll see him at the USO for sure... I'm very big on Coria (thanks, hitman )

Two dissapointments ina row for me

~more to come~

[The Chloe]

I'll wrap up day two in this post ;D

For some reason that I don't totally understand, I ended up at the Gambil-Kucera match *scratches head* We were waiting for something to get on court one, I imagine... there is no other logical explanation

Gambill is awfully nice offcourt, but really surly oncourt. Such a contrast! The crowd was totally pro Gambil... again, I have no idea why Kucera served for the match in the second set and got broken on a double fault. The crowd let out this huge roar after the double fault and he looks up and mockingly claps his racquet at the crowd. I was like "I LOVE YOU KAROL!" lol I hate when people clap doublefaults! I guess he does too My friends and I started to cheer super loudly for him and when he walked off court he gave us a wave Let me point out that we were among the 5 people rooting for him Gambil was nice enough to sign for people on his way out though, so I forgave him for being a bitch.

Sometime between all of this I saw Blake practicing... I took some pictures but nothing of note really happened there *Scratches head*

Okay, now for the most entertaining parts of day two....

Earlier in the day I had gone to see part of Zab and Sjeng with my friend. She watched the whole match, since she is in love with sjeng and got two pictures with him after his practices while we were there. I went half way through, and watched the second set with her. It wasn't a great match.. Zab was really on and Sjeng was just meh. So my friend turns to me and whispers "see that lady behind me", so I turn around and see a youngish blonde lady behind us. "That's Sjeng's gf" she tells me 'I've been talking to her she's really nice!" And she was! My friend talked to her a bit more when I was there. She asked us which was a better city to go out and see as a tourist - Toronto or Montreal. Apaprently she had also been taping the start of the match and talking into her camera. Very cute I wasn't there for that part.

Have you guys ever heard of the guy who follows the ATP tour around the world and goes to all the tournaments carrying flags, loudly rooting for the players? Werthiem made mention of him once. Well his name is Louis... or something like that. He sat right infront of my at Sjeng's match. Sjengs gf told us that he has about 15 players that he *really* supports. Sjeng is one, Rainer is another - he was there on a pass from Schuettler, actually! But he cheers for all the players when they are doing well... everytime that Zab broke Sjeng he would stand up with an Argentina flag covering himself and SCREAM "Viva Argentina!" lol... it was wild. He also would run back and forth from one side of the court to the other on the changeovers, so that he was always on Sjeng's side. He was shouting him encouragement the whole time like they were brothers Sjeng's gf was supportive but quiet... not one to draw attention to herself, as far as I could tell. One of the times when Louis did his "Viva Argentina!" bit he turns around and chucks the flag down (hitting my feet, lol), crosses his arms, frowns and goes "much to my chagrin!" lol... what a moment I just about died that somebody used the word "chagrin"

That pretty much wraps up Day two.... we say part of Max and Massu, but the pony tail was upsetting me so we had to leave

[Dissident]

Queen said:

I figured that I would console myself with the fact that rockin-rug-rat Coria was coming out next against pretty boy Lopez ;D. Lopez, btw, is much better looking in real life. He's extremely pretty, lol. Hopefully my pictures turn out The first set looked like it was going okay.... they played a few good points. Unfortunately I was having major back problems and had to leave right after Lopez broke. I lied down outside the stadium to rest my back for a few minutes and came back during the next changeover, just to see that the set had ended and coria had the trainer out. He retired right after that At least I got to see him. I'll see him at the USO for sure... I'm very big on Coria (thanks, hitman )

You're welcome.

[Dissident]

Cool day, huh? ;D
So Sjeng's gf is as nice as him it seems. They say the same about Tim's wife Lucy.
I myself was a lot more into Lara Rafter to say the truth.

[RogiFan]

Great reports, Becca! Good to see I can follow stuff I didn't see there!!

The guy is CRAZY LOU, Becca... saw him last yr... was it Rogi/Wayne dbles QF??

[The Chloe]

RogiFan said:

Great reports, Becca! Good to see I can follow stuff I didn't see there!!

The guy is CRAZY LOU, Becca... saw him last yr... was it Rogi/Wayne dbles QF??

I saw him last year at Kafenikov-Mirnyi. I didnt' stay long enough for doubles Qf *sniff*

We also saw him on the way home the third day at mcDonalds

I met you the first day, right? Did you tell people about that? I assume you did since somebody asked me about it, but where did you post it?

[Lee]

Thanks for the report, Becca!

[Jasper]

Queen said:

For some reason that I don't totally understand, I ended up at the Gambil-Kucera match *scratches head* We were waiting for something to get on court one, I imagine... there is no other logical explanation

Closet Ken Doll fan

Anyway, thanks for the reports. How wild was that "Viva Argentina" guy?! Geez.

[The Chloe]

LeoFMH said:

Closet Ken Doll fan

Anyway, thanks for the reports. How wild was that "Viva Argentina" guy?! Geez.

Nah... if I was a closet Ken Doll fan, I would at least spell his name right

[Courtesan]

Omigod, I have to read all this!!! Chica, you have the life!

Rebecca, I still haven't added anything. I rested the whole day and then I had to attend some youth Nigeria function at the last minute, so I will add it after I get some sleep. I am sorry, but I know your feelings aren't hurt!!

And Gonzo... oh, my Gonzo

[RogiFan]

Queen said:

I saw him last year at Kafenikov-Mirnyi. I didnt' stay long enough for doubles Qf *sniff*

We also saw him on the way home the third day at mcDonalds

I met you the first day, right? Did you tell people about that? I assume you did since somebody asked me about it, but where did you post it?

Becca, I think it was Sun AFTER the Robredo practice... I remember thinking after Sat that I hadn't seen you yet. I posted in the "other" thread

Keep posting!

[Courtesan]

Rebecca, I'm writing this as I read your ramblings.

I thought your comment on Ancic's breathing is so funny!!!! Haha! It really disturbed me when I saw him! Hahaha!!!! Reeeaaallyyy disturbed me! It's so cute though. Only he can pull it off 'cause he's so angelic

My fellow Nalbandian lover! You are so lucky to have goten to see his fiery ass in the flesh! I love Naba!! He arrived late--more reason for sensitive people to hate him I guess. But he rocks, and hopefully he'll win today!!

And talking to Sjeng's galpal must have been nice. And the bit about Louis, cute. That would be a very wonderful lifestyle, but my parents would kill me if that's what I made of myself,

[The Chloe]

Gonzo said:

Rebecca, I'm writing this as I read your ramblings.

I thought your comment on Ancic's breathing is so funny!!!! Haha! It really disturbed me when I saw him! Hahaha!!!! Reeeaaallyyy disturbed me! It's so cute though. Only he can pull it off 'cause he's so angelic

It caught me off guard. I thought maybe he was just in pain for the first couple shots that he did it, then I realized he does it ALL the time. lol... strange. More on Ancic to come, from Day three

My fellow Nalbandian lover! You are so lucky to have goten to see his fiery ass in the flesh! I love Naba!! He arrived late--more reason for sensitive people to hate him I guess. But he rocks, and hopefully he'll win today!!

Hopefully he wins tomorrow, too

[Jasper]

During the semis today, Federer hit this amazing shot and on tv I saw a random man running in the stands back and forth with a huge "Go Roger" flag. Possibly the same guy?

[The Chloe]

LeoFMH said:

During the semis today, Federer hit this amazing shot and on tv I saw a random man running in the stands back and forth with a huge "Go Roger" flag. Possibly the same guy?

Well Lou is known to be a Fed fan, apparently, so...

[ILR]

hehe great reports Becca! ;D you sound like you had a great time! at having to leave the Massu match because his ponytail was upsetting you!

[RogiFan]

LeoFMH said:

During the semis today, Federer hit this amazing shot and on tv I saw a random man running in the stands back and forth with a huge "Go Roger" flag. Possibly the same guy?

No it wasn't Crazy Lou w the flag, just some other crazy guy!!

Massu's ponytail also bothers Sjengster!!

[The Chloe]

Day Three

The night before, my friend and I had checked the schedule of play and seen that Ferrero and Younes were due on court 1 at 11am. I was absolutely thrilled that a matchup of this quality was going to be somewhere so fan friendly. Still can't believe they didn't get center court, but I was too thrilled that i would see them close up to be mad about that Had they played center, I would not have gone. I didn't go onto center court all week, and I can't really say I feel that I missed out...

We checked the practice schedule when the gates opened and I saw that Ancic and Nalbandian would practice on court 1 at 1030, until Younes and Ferrero came on. I had about 15 minutes to kill before this "must see" practice session, so I checked out the other courts.

I was so pumped about up seeing Ancic, David, Ferrero, and Younes soon that I figured nothing on the practice courts would interest me that much. Boy was I wrong. My friend and I wandered over to court 7, and none other than THE PattyMac was practicing with.... some guy. I have no idea why he was there... I just couldnt' think. It was such a wildly orgasmic moment, that all I could do was stare. I was being graced with a God like presence and was going to soak this moment up for as long as I could (okay, in truth I took two picture and then ran over to court 1 for Ancic-Nal...details, details!)

So I arrived on court 1 and took a seat right behind Ancic. I'd already seen Nal a good bit so figured I'd try to get some good pics of Mario. There was hardly anybody there, and I was the only one right behind him at the time. My plan to take some good pictures of him was foiled in the most embarassing of ways, unfortunately. My friend had opted to sit on the other side of the court from me, so that she could have a chair as opposed to a bench to sit on. She looked over at me and gave me this extremely geeky grin and wave. Naturally, I responded to her action by giving the flirtiest, girliest wave ever. Of course, just as I am doing this, Mario Ancic walks right between our line of vision and looks right at me... the funny look he gave me said it all I wanted to crawl under the bench and die. Since this wasn't an option, I immediately walked over to Nal's side and started taking HIS pictures instead. lol... ah me.


~more to come~

[The Chloe]

Younes-Ferrero came on at 11. The sky was a little dark and Ferrero gave it a couple uneasy glances before the match started. He wasn't the only one This was an entertaining match... Younes was not his best, but they played some fun points, and the sportsmanship was unbelievable. They were both very good natured towards each other, clapping for each others great shots, or smirking when the other was just "too good". The best point of the match was definately the one where Ferrero fell over, managed to hit it back over the net then get up and smack a forehand winner. The crowd went just nuts for him... even Younes had to laugh. Ferrero broke his racquet doing so and had to go over and get a new one, so he did a little trirl and wave at the crowd who was still giving him a rousing ovation for that point. He was showboating a bit, but who cares Another great point was where Ferrero hit a great drop volley that ended up bouncing back into the net... a bit lucky more than likely, but eh. He and Younes were both up at the net when it happended and they gave each otehr 5 Well... it was more like a handshake, but same idea. Details! Very funny stuff.

After the match, Younes stayed longer than Ferrero did to sign for this fans. The Moroccan fanbase was quite prominent, and Younes clearly really appreciated it. It was likely 5 minutes before he got off court... he wasn't just signing, he was talking ot his fans, answering questions, thanking them, etc. What a guy... I dunno how anybody could not like him after seeing that. He's definately gone up many many notches in my books. I'll be rooting for him to do well from now on. When he finally left the court he got a HUGE ovation and my friend (who was at the side he exited on) told me that he pretended to wipe a tear away then shrugged his shoulders and smiled and waved! LOL

Despite my admiration for Younes, it was still great to watch Ferrero get his first win over Younes. Damn rain delay prevented it from happening an hour sooner than it should have, but whatever. Gave me a chance to eat yet another hotdog

I have a few decent pictures of Ferrero that I will scan when I get back to school in a few weeks.

[The Chloe]

After Ferrero and Younes finished up, we decided to stick around for Nalbandian and Henman. I always felt that David was going to take that one... he had played pretty well against Jarkko and beats Henman more often than not, and Ithis time would be no exception. The first set up till about 4 all was pretty good. There were some nice points, and it kept be entertaining. After that it was pretty dull though. Perhaps because it was obvious that Nal would just pick Henman apart, eventually get a break, and win the match. REgardless, I was thrilled to see David doing so well

After the match I went by the practice courts again on the way to Verkerk-Kucera. Having cheered so much for Karol the day before I was content to continue doing so, but my frend - who is much louder than me - kept screaming "GO MARTIN" in my ear, foiling my plans of becoming president of the Karol Kucera fan club. I'd have stayed on the practice courts for a while before attending the last set of this match, but after spotting Ancic practicing with Ginepri, my pride just wouldn't allow it.

Martin Verkerk is a player that I could root for... he doesn't have the same type of game that most of the guys I like, but he has some of that "Younes factor" that makes him likable. After losing his match he started to walk away until he heard some guy yell from the side "Martin, can I take a picture with you" - bag on his shoulder and all, he returned to smile a bit and say "sure". He leaned back to fit into the picture with the guy then left the court. I have NEVER seen somebody do that after losing a match. It's rare enough to spot guys signing after a match, but stopping to take a picture? I was very touched

As the Verkerk-Kucera match had been ending, I couldn't help but notice the loud sex that seemed to be happening over on the adjacent court. The fence between them is tarped, so I couldn't actually see any nudity but judging from the noises of Paul Henri Mattieu, sex was the obvious conclusion. He was screaming "ALLEZ!" and moaning as if he was about to climax every single point. Naturally, I had to run over and see what all the fuss was about. He and Lopez were on serve at 4-5 in the third set. I immediately started rooting for Lopez, who is considerabley less irritating. Thank goodness he won. I spent the rest of the day occasionally breaking out into my "Paul Henri Mattieu faces", where I would scrunch my fave up really ugly and whine "CMON!" while pumping my fist. These were previously known as my "Lleyton Hewitt faces". Hewitt's got nothing on Paul Henri Mattieu in that department.

~more to come~

[The Chloe]

It had started to rain at the end of Lopez and Paul Henri Mattieu, so we took cover and waited for the evening session to commence. We had already decided that we would go to Hewitt-Mirnyi, which looked to be a promising match and was to be contested on court 1.

We showed up at the end of Schuettler and Kafelnikov (which was boring) so that we could get really good seats. This was my third time seeing Max play, but the first I'd seen hewitt. Everybody around me was anti-Hewitt and pro-Max, so I decided to be contrary and yell "COME ON HEWITT!" as soon as he entered the court. Indeed. the very highlight of my entire trip must have been when I found the opportunity to yell out "CMON ROCK!" in the middle of the first set. I could have gone home immediately following that shout of encouragement and been totally content with my trip.

The first set of that match stunk, but the rest of it was fabulous. I kept waiting for Max to cave in as he realized that Hewitt was never going to give up, but he refused to let it go. The "Hewitt factor" just doesn't seem to be there anymore. If that match was a year ago I'm positive that Hewitt would have won it despite the fact that he wasn't playing as well as Max. That's what made him so good... and right now he doesn't have "it". It will be interesting to see if he can ever get "it" back.