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Post by Lee on Aug 21, 2003 17:38:36 GMT -5
It was pure agony. Todd Martin was sooooo slow. He moved slowly, he walked slowly, he towelled off slowly. It was the epitome of "granny tennis", believe me. I was sitting in the third tier of seats, behind the players' chairs. Our seats were right in front of the indoor press boxes/luxury suites. It's probably more tolerable as I's in a very comfortable lazy-boy watching TV with air-conditioning running while you're burning under the sun with humidity
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 17:47:13 GMT -5
(QF) Llodra/Santoro vs Knowles/NestorLooks like the Grand Prince of Bad Calls Lars Graff is going to be here. What is it with me and the princes? Almost all the matches I've gone to see have been officiated by them. Llodra and Santoro arrive right on time Llodra gives a bottle of water to some fans sitting behind his seat Nestor changes his shirt after only 5 games. Flag Man is back, and color me impressed that he has the Bahamas flag for Knowles. He also held up a Swedish flag for Graff during the first changeover, but Graff didn't look too impressed Llodra/Santoro draw first blood, breaking Knowles. Both Knowles and Nestor have had problems on their serve, more than Llodra or Santoro. Santoro stepped into the return at 30-all and took a big rip, winning the return point Santoro struggles, but holds to consolidate the break. Llodra is the weaker half on his team at net, but he has good groundies and a good serve. He serves 2 aces to give L/S the first set, 6-4. Knowles is getting testy because the French magic has extended to Llodra as well. Flag Man holds up the NJ Devils banner again and keeps mentioning Lars Graff from Sweden. He seems rather off the beam, but has an official ATP badge. ------------------------------ Llodra's serve is broken to give K/N a 3-0 lead in the second set. Nestor served the third game and was almost broken thanks to no first serve. He and Knowles are much more intense than Llodra and Santoro. 4-1 K/N now. Llodra is losing his magic and is making stupid mistakes. They had 3 break points in the last game but he made all the errors to lose them. K/N have been trying to driect all their shots at him. Serious cloud cover now. Might rain, but it feels so much better now. Llodra's serve is broken again, 5-1 K/N now. Llodra seems to have completely lost himself. 6-4, 1-6 now, and the rain is starting. It's also thundering, so I expect play to be suspended soon. Santoro changes shirts between sets. ------------------------------ 2-1 K/N break Santoro's serve thanks to no first serve and Llodra missing all his poaches. The clouds are moving again and L/S's ship is sinking fast. 4-1 K/N break Llodra's serve. Methinks the Frenchies are gone; even Fabrice isn't trying very hard anymore . . . and here comes the sun again . . . 6-1 Knowles/Nestor. But Santoro and Llodra aren't too broken up about it. Santoro hits a ball with his head and thew his racquet (unintentionally) after a volley. He was too cute when he went to retrieve it! Like a little boy in trouble I guess they are a bit tired, as both played singles and doubles this week. Santoro is sooooooo adorable in person. He's so short and cute and you just want to go hug him. Of course I took pictures, of both teams but mostly Santoro (QF) Knowles/Nestor d. Llodra/Santoro 4-6, 6-1, 6-1con'd
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 17:58:26 GMT -5
The sun has stopped! It pours as we head to lunch. Just in time, but I want a score from Mirnyi/Coria, which was on ESPN. We it didn't rain long at all, just long enough to scare everyone to the dining tent. But it did cool off, thank God. I see Mirnyi is up a set on Coria! Good on him! The match just restarted now. Am watching Mirnyi/Coria on the big screen in the dining tent. During changeovers they show the players, you guys would be jealous ;D Want to see Mirnyi's doubs later today. They should have stopped play before Mirnyi served at 5-all because it thundered here behind the Center Court and he served and the bottom fell out. It is going to flood very quickly unless it suddenly stops again. Looks like Coria pulled his hamstring when he slipped. I'm surprised Max didn't go down, you could hear him sliding all over the lines at net. And here I was thinking, I don't have to stay for either singles match tonight, just want to watch Max's doubles, then have a nice meal and relax, get some sleep tonight. Guess this shoots my plans to hell. You thought it was raining before, now its pouring twice as hard and it sounds like its going to storm. Center Court is on the big screen and it looks completely flooded. It's raining so hard I have to should to be heard 3 feet away. And the dining tent has officially flodded. A huge flash of lightning just struck and the dining tent is nothing more than a huge lightning rod! Everything under it is metal, the tables, the stakes holding up the canvas tent . . . It's blowing in from all sides now, but I can't help but LMAO. There is a huge crowd of people under Center Court but it sounds like the storm is right above us. It is dark as night to one side and the rain continues to pour in. Can't take pics anymore because it will ruin the camera (I took a few pics of the massive rains to go along with this report ). The tables are like little islands in a stream. Something knocked out power to the big screen in the tent -- that was before the huge clap of thunder and burst of lightning. We're sitting downstream, it appears. The water is ankle deep to he left of me, but I'm still dry for the most part. It's been an hour and its still pouring, quite hard. They're starting to close ranks around us. I'm entertaining myself with my media guide. Interesting the things you learn when you're forced. 4:05 and its still raining and thundering -- 2 hours this as been going on now. Good to know there aren't many players left here; I'd hate that feeling of knowing my boys were on the grounds and I couldn't see them It finally looks brighter outside, a bit more promising but not much. The big screen is back up, but turned to CNN Headline News instead of ESPN/2. The sun shows itself at 4:25 --> FINALLY! Arrive at Center Court just in time to see Mirnyi and Coria walk out. Coria doesn't appear to have injured himself with his tumble in the rain. Max earns himself 3 match points on Coria's serve and takes the third one. Only saw the last 2 games but Max looks very, very impressive con'd
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 22:12:31 GMT -5
(QF) Bhupathi/Mirnyi vs Damm/SukMax is out quite soon after his singles match, a bit surprising But, he and Bhupathi are the better team for the opening at least. Mirnyi seems to have recovered seamlessly, just like yesterday. I read he practices yoga and he certainly seems to keep focus well. Damm/Suk will be the first broken; M/B keep creating ads for themselves before D/S can come back. 5-4, still on serve. Mirnyi moving well, Damm/Suk forcing him to be quick at the net, but he's getting the job done. He's certainly gaining fans with his semifinal run in signles and the possibility of it here in doubs, too 6-5. Of course, as soon as I think a break is nearing, suddenly D/S are holding to love, with aces, to boot. Still think B/M are the stronger of the two, though. First set goes to a tiebreak. Dm/S very good at net, lots of interesting points. And what a tiebreak it is! Max hit a slightly mishit lob that landed smack on the baseline, and Mahesh almost did the same, and even questioned the call But they took the tiebreak anyway, 7-5 as D/S crumbled a bit. Max just ripped a return to begin the second. Could this be his next Cinderella run, like TMS Stuttgart? If he beats Roddick . . . M/B earn 2 break points in the opening game but can't convert. Max moving beautifully now. They earn another 2 break points on Suk's serve and convert the second one thanks to some nice work by Mahesh. He and Max are an amazing team D/S look like twins, identical outfits and buzzcuts. They aren't the same height, or else they could rival the Bryans in a lookalike contest M/B earn 2 more break points on Suk's serve but fail to convert again. They both have been taking good care of their own serves and should win this in 3 or 4. Mashesh's serve is surprisingly effective, and quite mesmerizing to watch. And they win! Max's run continues. Dream final: Schuettler vs Mirnyi; Bhupathi/Mirnyi vs the Bryans with the Bryans getting schooled :satan: (QF) Bhupathi/Mirnyi d. Damm/Suk 7-6, 6-4con'd
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 22:14:45 GMT -5
Still waiting to hear the Schuettler score. It's so nice to have a meal, read the paper, relax a bit before going to bed at a reasonable hour I really hope my dream final comes off. Hell, I wouldn't even mind Nalby in the final, just NO AMERICANS! It's shameful that they have scheduled Max to play back to back matches AGAIN. I really enjoyed seeing Max up close, obviously for the last time. He's a lot of fun to cheer for, and so affable off court. And he loves his bananas! He and Mahesh stayed after their match today and took more pics and signed more autos. End of Day 7.
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 22:22:23 GMT -5
PRACTICE COURT SESSIONS -- Saturday, 8/169 am Granstand: Saretta Court 3: Hanley/Arthurs 10:30 am Court 3: Bhupathi/Mirnyi 11 am Center: Todd Martin 12 noon Knowles/Nestor 1 pm Grandstand: Todd Martin Semifinal day. We arrive an hour and a half early and already there's chaos. The guy I parked beside chastised me for hitting my door on his new van (I didn't) and I felt like saying, "Be glad that's all I did!" I'm not in a good mood and I'm hoping Max isn't jinxed. Last time I was in a bad mood like this, the people I wanted to win lost. This is make it or break it day -- I'll either be totally thrilled or totally crushed by the players who advance to the final. No practices this weekend, as there is to be a juniors tournament. I already miss seeing Jarkko & Juanqui up close. It's so addicting ;D and such a nice feeling to be near the players you admire so much. Bhupathi/Mirnyi are not on Court 3 right now. I guess Max is off somewhere doing some yoga to prepare for his long day today. Saw Max and Xenia walk by from the practice court. Someone went up and wished him luck, so I guess we won't be the only ones cheering for an upset! I watched the Genepri-Schuettler replay on ESPN2 last night and LMAO whem PMac shouted empatically, "NO!" as Cliff asked him if he should just pencil in Roddick's name in the winner's bracket. PMac showed serious concern about Mirnyi, so I guess that could be a good sign. The mystery of what happened to Schuettler in his match vs Jarkko has now been solved. Apparently Schuettler has had some pain in his lower back, and he almost pulled out vs Jarkko. And oh, what irony now that he's in the semis and could make the final here . . . I also made a scene on Center Court when a bee got behind me and tried to sting me I was actually down out of my seat on the walkway trying to shove it away with my newspaper (I was reading about Schuettler). This was my second outburst of the week on Center Court, but this time it was comical (even we had to laugh at ourselves). I'm just glad it wasn't on TV con'd
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 22:30:45 GMT -5
(SF) Mirnyi vs RoddickStarts on serve. Roddick bringing the big heat, but has more fault serves than Mirnyi. Initial feeling is Max is in control here, he just needs to assert himself. Roddick obviously worked on his passing shots this morning. Hopefully Max will warm into this match nicely and start going for his volleys more. He seems so relaxed and unhurried out there. Max is really mixing his serves well. He's hit a few 85 mph creampuffs then followed them up with 120+ mphs. He hasn't faced a break point yet, but also hasn't gotten one. He looked like he could go all day, though, and is playing quite slowly, trying to pace himself. Well, Max did what he wanted to do in the first set tiebreak -- turn on the intensity. But, the net was against him and he lost it 7-5 after being up 5-1. The crowd is now firmly on Roddick's side. Max has been playing passively, trying to make Roddick beat himself. Let's see if he changes tactics in the next set. Yeah, he changed tactics all right -- completely gives up. (At the time I didn't realize that he was probably bone dead tired, so I was a bit harsh on him in my notes. But after losing the first set he probably didn't feel it was worth it to play 3 sets in singles then play a doubles match). Now he just wants Roddick to beat him. The aggression present in the previous matches is gone. Max seems content to stay back or let Roddick pass him. Why is everyone suddenly falling to the altar of Roddick? He's beatable, his opponents just have to believe they can beat him! Max tried to stop the bleeding at 3-2 but thus far his comeback has been too little, too late. One mental vacation and a little doubt creeps in. I hope Schuettler kicks Roddick's ass Max stayed after his loss and signed autographs, quite longer after Roddick left. He is so gracious in defeat and he won himself a lot of new fans with his run here So,is this title as good as Roddick's? Probably, unless Schuettler continues his run. Fish will have no chance vs Mr. "I'm the favorite for the US Open" but Schuettler could give him more problems. Hopefully max will wake up for doubs; it'd be a shame for him to walk away from Cincy without a title. At least Mirnyi can walk away knowing he's done something Roddick hasn't: beaten a seed, and convincingly. The tournament screwed him, though, in scheduling. I guess the tennis bias is quite alive and well (SF) Roddick d. Mirnyi 7-6, 6-4con'd
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 22:42:27 GMT -5
(SF) Bhupathi/Mirnyi vs Arthurs/HanleyThis match is delayed until 3 pm (approximately 2 hours after Max's singles match ended ) That's the only bad thing about these latter days of the week: nothing, absolutely nothing to do between matches. Now worth it to leave the grounds, either. It might be 3 or 4 hours between doubles and the second singles semi. Mr. All Serve No Shorts (Arthurs) has his serve on today. Thus far, it appears Hanley is the weakest player out there. His serve is hard and flat (the others hit with more spin) and he isn't as good at net as his partner. I'm guessing all those clay titles came thanks to the extra time to rip winners instead of volleying. There's actually a pretty big crowd here -- I guess all of Max's new fans, hehe Max is much mor relaxed on the doubles court and is really taking his rips. He's visibly tired, though. Arthurs/Hanley break Mahesh's serve for 6-5 in the first. In the first point of the game, Arthurs pelts a volley right at Mahesh and hits him hard enough to send him to the ground Bhupathi is broken at love after that. B/M earn 2 break points on Hanley's serve but can't convert and lose the first set 7-5. The crowd clears out after that -------------------------------- Max goes down 2 break points on his serve at 2-all in the second but saves both with some big serves. He and Mahesh look a bit lacadasical out there. They must be weary if they won last week, plus Max playing singles both weeks . . . Now it's Mahesh who's under fire. He saves 4 break points in the 3-all game. Max is starting to miss first serves and easy volleys. It appears all his play is starting to catch up with him. Though everything was against them in that second set (the net, line calls), a little luck and a big serve from Mahesh give M/B the second set in a tiebreak, 7-5. Arthurs and Hanley have been drawing errors from M/B on their weaker side and M/B are finally starting to do the same. -------------------------------- M/B switch serve order to begin the third set and Bhupathi is broken easily. All that work in the tiebreak for nothing as they go down 0-3 in the third set. 4-1. Max holds, but he's been trying to keep loose all day. This is his fifth hour on court and he is really worn down It just goes to show how he is the team leader. The fact that they haven't been able to break Hanley's comparably weak erve is very telling. Max saves 3 match points on his serve with 90 mph creampuffs, that's how dead he is. He's taking a long time between serves as well. . . . Good on Max for sticking it out despite the crap schedule. Both stop to sign autographs. No bananas today for Max, guess he's going to eat a real meal instead and grab a nap. (SF) Arthurs/Hanley d. Bhupathi/Mirnyi 7-5, 6-7, 6-3con'd
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 22:52:03 GMT -5
After the doubles match, Schuettler practiced on Center Court for about 1/2 hour. We went to have some dinner and I was pleasantly surprised to see the Center Court camera still on and projected on the big screen. It's a bit breezier out here, but the humidity is brutal. Supposedly there's a chance of rain tonight. It tried to rain earlier, after the first semi, but didn't last very long. We went to the stadium 1/2 hour early and Knowles/Nestor were practicing. Nestor and his coach hit a bunch of used balls into the crowd during their water break. (SF) Schuettler vs FishSchuettler to serve first. He holds easily, then earns a break point on Fish's serve. Though he fails to convert, he pushes it to 2 deuces. Schuettler holds to love twice. We are 2 out of the total 10 fans in the crowd for Schuettler, and the stadium is nearly full. Schuettler earns another break point but Fish manages to come up with some shots that aren't errors. He has practically no first serve to speak of, and he keeps making nervous unforced errors. Hopefully Schuettler missing break points won't frustrate him as the match goes on. You know it's bad when the crowd is praying for unforced errors so their boy can get a point The crowd gets obnoxious during the 3-all game. They decide they don't agree with the service linesman and start shouting during the point. Kudos to Rainer for not losing his cool. They people behind me are especially obnoxious. And these people dare call the French bad sportsmen?! The crowd was warned for talking during the points and that just made them even angrier. Lars Graff corrected a call in Fish's favor and of course the crowd was silent Schuettler was right thereand he thought it was out, so . . . This is agonizing, though. I'm still nervous that the final will be shot to hell. Fish wins the tiebreak 7-4. He finally gets first serves in and directs them ALL down the middle. Just have to remember that Jarkko also had Schuettler on the ropes and Schuettler came back emphatically. ---------------------------------- Fish is killing Schuettler with his serve now. He is almost exclusively serving to Schuettler's backhand and Schuettler has missed every single return. Looks like Fish has gotten in his head. The momentum has shifted. Schuettler STILL hasn't picked up on the serving pattern of Fish. They either go up the T or to his backhand and he's been doing this since the game before the tiebreak. What the fuck is Schuettler doing?! I just keep telling myself, he beat Jarko and Jarkko is better than Fish. 4-3. Schuettler finally realizing the backhand serve but still not recognizing that in clutch situations, Fish is going up the T. He has to hold and hope for another dip in play from Fish. Fish couldn't get a first serve in the last game, unless he went up the T over the low part of the net. con'd
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 23:08:20 GMT -5
That's where my notes end. I was very upset, made moreso by the fact that I was sitting in a group of incredibly obnoxious, ignorant American fans. Schuettler didn't catch on to Fish's serving patterns until the game before the tiebreak, which I thought was very unlike him. Fish didn't play exceptionally well, Schuettler played like crap. He was so unnerved and uncomfortable in that match. Schuettler has shown signs of being uncomfortable in all of his matches (except the one vs Ginepri, it seems) and he finally crumbled under the horrible crowd. So for the second time, Schuettler made me cry (this time, he didn't see me, of course). I was shocked and stunned. My own personal hell, the worst possible final matchup I could have imagined came true. I walked, dazed, back to the Mercedes Benz tent (my entrance) and sat there for a full 20 minutes. I calmed myself down, but that's when I could have really used the support of this board, someone to talk to and commiserate with and cry with and bitch with. We did not go to the final, deciding instead to sleep in and just lay around. We went to the German village in Covington, KY (disappointing) and ate at an English pub. I had fish and chips and it was very yummy! It was Icelandic cod, and I can see why Jarkko enjoys his Icelandic vacations I watched the Anna Kournikova E! True Hollywood Story that night, and it was interesting to see mainstream celeb media's take on the most glamorous girl in tennis. My final thoughts on some of the players: - I loved seeing some of your favorite players. I haven't seen much of the short Frenchies and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them play. I wish I could have seen Moya vs Santoro, it sounded like a cracker of a match, judging from the sounds coming from Center Court. Grosjean and Clement were also a lot of fun to watch.
- Max Mirnyi is the new fan favorite. Max won himself a ton of new fans, myself and my mom included, with his play and his attitude over the week. He was so nice and seemed to really appreciate the crowd's support during his singles and doubles matches. He was responsive and polite when someone congratulated him on a win, or wished him luck in a match. He always stayed to sign autographs, win or lose, and signed for everyone who wanted one. He took several pictures and put his arm around the ladies who wanted him to. His fiancee is beautiful in person Anytime you see him walking around, you want to hug him and wish him every happiness in the world. Hands down, one of the nicest guys on tour and one of the most talented. There were quite a few articles about him in the local paper during the tournament, about how he was pulling double duty and succeeding in both. If he hadn't been so fucked over by the schedule, he could have defeated Roddick in that semi. He was just too tired, too weary by that stage.
- I was in the presence of masters. Even though Guga didn't play well in singles, he is still a masterful, wonderful player and he exuded that quality on the court. I almost wanted to bow to Zhenya Kafelnikov when I saw him. There's just something about him when he's on court in a match. I knew I was seeing one of the greats and probably for the last time The game will miss him, I will miss him.
- Wesley Moodie is the one to watch. As for players to watch in the qualifying draw, turn your attention to this one. A little bit of work and he could be the complete package. He already thinks more than Roddick ever did A few more big wins on the bigger stages and he'll be in the Top 100 and climbing high.
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 21, 2003 23:20:15 GMT -5
FINAL PHOTO COUNT
TOTAL: 311
1. Jarkko Nieminen -- 82 (+ fan sign) 2. Juan Carlos Ferrero -- 40 (+ fan sign) 3. Fabrice Santoro -- 20 (+ doubles with Llodra) 4. Rainer Schuettler -- 16 5. Gustavo Kuerten -- 16 6. Arnaud Clement -- 15 7. Max Mirnyi -- 12 (+ doubles with Bhupathi) 8. Mark Philippoussis -- 9 (doubles only) 9. Alex Corretja -- 9 10. Mario Ancic -- 9 11. Nikolay Davydenko -- 8 12. Jonas Bjorkman -- 5 13. Thomas Enqvist -- 5 14. Roger Federer -- 5 15. Sebastien Grosjean -- 5 16. Yevgeny Kafelnikov -- 5 17. Feliciano Lopez -- 5 18. Wesley Moodie -- 5 19. Carlos Moya -- 5 20. Sjeng Schalken -- 5 21. Knowles/Nestor -- 4 22. James Blake -- 3 23. Tim Henman -- 3 24. Lleyton Hewitt -- 1 25. Stefan Koubek -- 1 26. Jiri Novak -- 1 27. Radek Stepanek -- 1
Flag Man with his wares -- 4 Rain delay on quarterfinal Friday -- 4 Guga fans corners during his singles match -- 3 Srichaphan's promotional ad -- 1
And the last picture I took on the grounds of TMS Cincinnati was a picture of the actual Tennis Masters Cup that they will hand out in Houston this year. I didn't ever notice it until I sat down right next to it after the second singles semifinal. The only two players I could have seen lifting it were Federer or Ferrero, so hopefully my bold prediction will come true at the end of the year . . .
My pictures will probably be up after I get back to school next week, if only because my connection there is much faster.
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Post by Ilhame on Aug 22, 2003 7:50:39 GMT -5
Thanks for all the great reports and the time you put in typing them. I really feel as if I was there . Sorry you didn't get a nice final, but indeed you can look back on a great week. There has been lots of negative talks about Yevgeny, but whatever he is like, it's very obvious how much he loves the game. At least it's the impression I got both times I've seen him play (TMS Paris 2001 and RG 2003 in doubles)
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Post by RogiFan on Aug 22, 2003 9:20:51 GMT -5
What, no pix of Verkerk??! Not bad, 9 of Alex!! Can't wait for those... you'll let us know when they're up on your site, right?
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Post by RogiFan on Aug 22, 2003 10:44:03 GMT -5
Phew! Caught up w all your reports!! The detail is astounding!! How did you watch the matches AND make notes at the same time?! "He took a pic with everyone and signs autos for everyone who wanted one. There's no doubt why Mahesh & Max are the #1 players in doubles." I love those two! They are so cool! AND Max IS such a nice guy... of course, he's Rogi's friend and sometime doubles partner, w whom he's won some tourneys, incl Miami this yr!! Very -- they both say of each other how nice the other is!! Glad the crowd was for Blake, not Pandy!! "I heard Kim was upet in Toronto as well; this could be a little blessing in disguise. Maybe she's going to join the boys for some practice. Everyone is calling Justine the new favorite for the Open, but I think Kimmy can do it." Yeah, too bad... she's playing too much tennis... I w love for Kim to win her first slam!! Good thing I saw her first-rd match then!! Her first since being #1 too -- so much fun!! "Federer walked in next, backwards cap (surprise!) and agreed to take a pic as well. He went into the lounge. A few minutes later, Lundgren walked in and went into the complex. He walked out a big later, looking lost, as if he couldn't find his charge. It was kinda cute " Everything about Rogi is cute, even PL!! PL has a lot of followers also... he even has nicknames... like Pudding!! "One night we walked by the players' lounge and I looked over quickly. It's nice in there! So hidden away from the rest of the complex here. Air conditioned, too, which would be so lovely now that it's gotten so humid here. It's very unbearable to say the least." I w like to go to Cincy for the lounge!! "Am watching Mirnyi/Coria on the big screen in the dining tent. During changeovers they show the players, you guys would be jealous Want to see Mirnyi's doubs later today." You bet!! [we need a greeneyed smilie] "Max stayed after his loss and signed autographs, quite longer after Roddick left. He is so gracious in defeat and he won himself a lot of new fans with his run here " Yeah, Max!! Too bad he was so tired and had to play his dbles right after... "I watched the Anna Kournikova E! True Hollywood Story" I missed that! Was Marat on it? "And the last picture I took on the grounds of TMS Cincinnati was a picture of the actual Tennis Masters Cup that they will hand out in Houston this year. I didn't ever notice it until I sat down right next to it after the second singles semifinal. The only two players I could have seen lifting it were Federer or Ferrero, so hopefully my bold prediction will come true at the end of the year . . ." That's cool! Of course they didn't have that in Montreal!! Yep, I want a Ferrero-Federer final w the best man holding the trophy... Well, sounds like you had a fab time in Cincy, Hackie! Thanks for your memories!!
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Post by Sjengster on Aug 22, 2003 10:52:39 GMT -5
**I have a note here to ask Sjengster, what was Rusedski whining about? I was on the other side of the court**.It was happening on the screen right in front of me, but I've forgotten the details now that you ask... I think he was probably complaining about Clement's complaint, suggesting that he was trying to throw off his rhythm by turning the towel incident into a big deal. But really, in general he wasn't impressed at the line calls because they'd all gone against him - in the tiebreak he must have hit what he thought was an ace on at least two points only for it to be called a fault. What I do remember clearly, however, is the wonderful way the umpire Fergus Murphy tried to defuse the argument with his twinkling, carefree Irish demeanour. There was Rusedski sniping bitterly about the bad calls, and there was Fergus responding chirpily with, "Well Greg, I've seen it, the linespeople have seen it, and we've seen it out, so that's just the way it is, you know, OK?" Rusedski eventually subsided with irritation and much gratuitous towel-chewing.
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Post by Ilhame on Aug 22, 2003 12:14:19 GMT -5
I heard on the Marat forum that Marat was showed a few times in that Anna thing. Too bad I don't have that channel here
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 22, 2003 13:12:01 GMT -5
Thanks for all the great reports and the time you put in typing them. I really feel as if I was there . Sorry you didn't get a nice final, but indeed you can look back on a great week. There has been lots of negative talks about Yevgeny, but whatever he is like, it's very obvious how much he loves the game. At least it's the impression I got both times I've seen him play (TMS Paris 2001 and RG 2003 in doubles) You're quite welcome for the reports. I went with the mindset as a "representative" of this group. Yes, it did turn into a Jarkko celebration week for the most part, but I also tried to see as many of the faves of everyone here as I possibly could. I got some great pics, I can't wait to share them with you guys To me, it just hit me that Zhenya is one of the best out there. No matter his attitude, no matter his motives, it seems that he went out there with the goal to prove that if he put his mind to it, he would be a successful professional tennis player. And he did. I wish I had been able to see him in singles (I wish I had been able to see him before he took the nosedive in form a few years ago), but the sheer determination on court is what impresses me. What I like about Zhenya is that he's not afraid to speak his mind. He doesn't give a damn what the others think of him, and he's not afraid to speak his mind I will miss his candor when he finally retires.
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 22, 2003 13:15:27 GMT -5
What, no pix of Verkerk??! Yes, I do have a picture of Verkerk giving me a weird look while I was taking pics of Jarkko during the very first practice on Saturday. Other than that, I didn't go out of my way to see him, I just saw him all the time. Estimated time of arrival: next Saturday. Moving back to uni will disrupt most of my website updating, but I also have to watermark all the pics before I put them anywhere and that's going to be a pain
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Post by Ilhame on Aug 22, 2003 13:22:07 GMT -5
Zhenya will be missed by me too. It sucks that putting those picks up will take so much time, but I think at least Jarkko's pics will be put up with love
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 22, 2003 13:26:16 GMT -5
How did you watch the matches AND make notes at the same time?! I wrote notes during the changeovers or whenever I got a minute. I was constantly writing but I was hardly the only one. There were two girls who followed the Frenchies around the tournament and one had a notebook almost similar to mine (and about as full ). Max's game is so suited to doubles play; I'm not surprised he and Federer have teamed up successfully. It must be nice to have 2 regular partners with whom you can have so much success. Hell, I'd like to go in the Cincy lounge! The players' lounge was more like a complex. I only saw the entrance, but it was nicer than my hotel (which was pretty nice itself!)!! It wasn't as glamorous as it sounds, I guess; but the tournament had its own cameras on Center Court, Grandstand, and Court 3, and during the commercial breaks on ESPN they'd show the players during their changeovers. Not that the players get up and do a song and dance or anything, but it's interesting to see how they spend their timeouts. Not really. They had some footage of her playing mixed doubles with him, but you couldn't really see him. Mostly they talked about how she left Russia (didn't even mention how it was Zhenya's dad who gave her her first racquet ) and became completely Westernized. They didn't mention her quarterfinal run at Wimbledon, either just mentioned her results at the US Open and that she won the Aussie Open doubs with Martina. It was pretty crap, but then, it was E! I don't think the Cup was there all week; I certainly didn't notice it and I walked in and out of the Mercedes Benz tent everyday. It looks really heavy, like two of the TMS shields put together.
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 22, 2003 13:31:12 GMT -5
It was happening on the screen right in front of me, but I've forgotten the details now that you ask... I think he was probably complaining about Clement's complaint, suggesting that he was trying to throw off his rhythm by turning the towel incident into a big deal. But really, in general he wasn't impressed at the line calls because they'd all gone against him - in the tiebreak he must have hit what he thought was an ace on at least two points only for it to be called a fault. What I do remember clearly, however, is the wonderful way the umpire Fergus Murphy tried to defuse the argument with his twinkling, carefree Irish demeanour. There was Rusedski sniping bitterly about the bad calls, and there was Fergus responding chirpily with, "Well Greg, I've seen it, the linespeople have seen it, and we've seen it out, so that's just the way it is, you know, OK?" Rusedski eventually subsided with irritation and much gratuitous towel-chewing. LMAO!!!! Fergus Murphy is my new hero! Now that you mention the line calls, I seem to recall that indeed, Rusedski did get a few fault calls in the first set. I was so tired I was only writing down the basics in my match reports, so I don't remember exactly. Rusedski acted like a big baby about it, though. Sulking on the sideline, refusing to get up. If I was Fergus I would have ejected him ;D
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 22, 2003 13:33:08 GMT -5
Zhenya will be missed by me too. It sucks that putting those picks up will take so much time, but I think at least Jarkko's pics will be put up with love All the pics will be put up with love Even all 82 of Jarkko's (which will be the biggest pain ).
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Post by Lee on Aug 22, 2003 13:59:29 GMT -5
Thanks again for the report! What a lame response but Vince was counting the seconds for me to baby him at that time. I'm terrible at words and really don't know how to express how immensely I enjoy it. If I was writing the report, this thread would be about 2 pages and probably nobody was going to response
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Post by The Chloe on Aug 22, 2003 15:50:23 GMT -5
WHAT?! No pictures of Coria?! BLASPHEMY! How could you not take pictures of such a sweet, charming, hottie?! Just kidding... about ALL of that
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 22, 2003 16:21:33 GMT -5
WHAT?! No pictures of Coria?! BLASPHEMY! How could you not take pictures of such a sweet, charming, hottie?! Just kidding... about ALL of that Gee, I thought you had taken 82 pics of your lovely Coria in Montreal so I thought I was off the hook Besides, you can make up for my deficit at the Open, especially if he's going to be the first player you make a beeline for ;D
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Post by ILR on Aug 22, 2003 17:15:51 GMT -5
Thanks a lot for the detailed reports, you really do have a knack for reporting We really appreciate it and of course all your pics! Looking forward to seeing those I think even I can manage to wait until next week for hundreds of pics! Thanks again
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 22, 2003 17:22:22 GMT -5
You're welcome. LOL, I thought maybe it'd help that I only took about 15 pics of your faves (combined) I'm glad you guys enjoyed the ramblings of my mind during the tourney
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Post by ILR on Aug 22, 2003 17:28:44 GMT -5
You're welcome. LOL, I thought maybe it'd help that I only took about 15 pics of your faves (combined) I'm glad you guys enjoyed the ramblings of my mind during the tourney Oh 15 pics is great! I saw you took the most of Mark out of my faves hehe, 5 of Rogi and 5 of Carlos so actually I think its 19 But its all appreciated. sure did! Makes up for not getting coverage.
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Post by The Chloe on Aug 22, 2003 23:36:01 GMT -5
Gee, I thought you had taken 82 pics of your lovely Coria in Montreal so I thought I was off the hook Besides, you can make up for my deficit at the Open, especially if he's going to be the first player you make a beeline for ;D 82 pictures of Coria? Not a chance... he's not nearly pretty enough to garner that much of my attention He's part of a long list of players I'll be making a beeline for, but not the first... his matchup against Puerta doesn't really look at that intriguing to me.
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Post by Partridge In A Pear Tree on Aug 23, 2003 15:54:01 GMT -5
Great report, Hackie! I've told you before and i'll say it again, you're a great writer! ;D
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