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Post by Choupi on Jul 20, 2005 9:10:38 GMT -5
As some of you already know, I was in Stuttgart for 2 days. It was great. I'm in the process of writing reports, but there are many things to put into words, so just give me some time. Yet, to help you wait for my reports, here's the list of players I have close-up pics of. If you're interested to get some, just PM me your email address and I'll be glad to share.  Andreas Seppi, Florian Mayer, Andi Beck, Alessio Di Mauro, Mariano Zabaleta, Tomas Berdych, Gaël Monfils, Gustavo Kuerten, Chucho Acasuso, Agustin Calleri, Rainer Schüettler, Igor Andreev, Potito Starace, Gaston Gaudio. |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 20, 2005 10:17:25 GMT -5
As some of you who happen to know me a bit know, I was in RG this year and I missed Gaston, the one I absolutely wanted to meet. So, when I made the decision to travel to Stuttgart, and spend 2 days there, I was more than determined to erase that disappointment of mine and finally get to meet the one I was so much looking forward to meeting. Here's the story of how this went... Day 1: After around 5 hours in trains, totally frozen because they never know how to get the air-conditioning work properly  , I arrived at the main Station in Stuttgart around 1PM. It was pretty hot, no need to tell you how terrible it was, especially in places like stations! I had to wait for some friends from the MTF, because we had settled the appointment at the station. The first one I was to meet was Corinna and one of her friends. They arrived around 45 minutes after me. It was nice to finally put a face on somebody I've been chatting with for some months now. As they were both German, I seized the opportunity to ask them to show me how to get metro tickets, and so on...which they did, very nicely! After that, my partner in crime, I name Betty, arrived from Milano, after so many hours of train...But it was the 1st time we met, and it was a great moment. That's where we said goodbye to our German guides who were heading the tournament while Betty and I were trying to reach our hotel to leave our luggage. It would be too long to tell how it happened in the metro, but it was fun! All you have to know is that we ended up walking, under a terrible storm, with only my small umbrella!!!! If I tell you that we even went cross a graveyard, I'm quite sure you won't believe me. Yet, you should because it was the case. Imagine it, the storm, the heavy rain, the thunder and all those graves around us!!! OK, enough with this! We finally arrived at the hotel, totally wet. We went to our room and changed our clothes before catching some bad cold, or worse! We weren't in a hurry anymore as that rain had stopped the play at the tournament. It's only at the end of the afternoon that we went to see some tennis, which was, after all, the main reason why we came to Stuttgart! Many people had decided to leave, thinking that the rain would never stop. Wrong decision. When we arrived, we went straight onto the Center Court, and we watched the end of Seppi vs Mayer. It was fun because, Betty, my friend, is Italian and of course, cheering for Andreas. I joined her in that. But, we felt a bit alone in the middle of that German crowd, screaming "Forza Andreas, andiamo!!!" Anyway, Seppi won the 2nd set, and therefore the match, pretty easily, after a 1st set won with a tiebreak. The next match was another Italian, Di Mauro vs another German, Andi Beck, totally unknown of me before that match. Same procedure as in the match of Seppi, we ended up being alone, together with some fans on the other side of the court, cheering for Alessio. That match has been pleasant to watch, for many reasons. First, the winner would have to play Gaudio in the 2nd round. And I really wanted to see how the future opponent of Gaston was playing. Beck, much supported by the crowd, played great tennis, long rallies, good forehand, strong serve. Everything he was trying was successfull, which was the total opposite for Di Mauro. Alessio stuck up to his reputation of Latin player, with a strong temper! The words shouted between the points weren't really the ones you're taught at school, when you're learning a foreign language. He even got a warning after wacking a ball outside the court. Surely because some poor birds could have been seriously injured or killed by it Mr Umpire!!!!!  Anyway, Beck, totally confident started to piss me off, in the sense that he kept on screaming "come on" every time he was winning a point, jumping and behaving a bit like Nadal, but of course, without the same talent! So, a mix of Hewitt and Nadal...definitely not attractive for me!  Yet, he won the match and will play Gaston next. I hope that he'll kick his ass, showing how to behave on a tennis court! ;D Then, we decided to go and wander around, checking what was still happening on the other courts. When we saw that Monaco was still playing, I immediately thought that, maybe, some other Argentine players might be in the stands, to support their friend. I wasn't wrong! When I checked from outside the court, I spotted Mariano Zabaleta... :oNeedless to say that we entered the stands as fast as possible! It was the end of the match. Monaco won rather easily. Mariano seemed to be very relaxed. We knew he had won his match in the afternoon, rather easily. So, when they all stood up to leave, I asked him if he agreed to do some pics with us. Which he nicely accepted, smiling! He's really up to his reputation of very friendly guy. While we were taking the pics, we talked a bit with him, congratulating him for his win, of course, and explaining him that we were also big Gaston fans. That's when, without us asking for it, he informed us that Gaston was to arrive only on the evening because he wasn't to play before Wednesday. I got really scared, fearing to re-live the bad experience of missing him again, after RG...Mariano laughed at us when we said we were sad because we wouldn't see him play, once again.  But when I told him briefly how it happened for me in Paris, he got more compassionate, and told me that if I don't see him play on Tuesday, I'll surely see him practise. We thanked him, wished him good luck for his next match, promising to be there to cheer for him and he left. It took some minutes before we finally realized what happened to us! We kept on wandering around the alleys, meeting many players, very relax at that time of the day, all matches being almost over. That's where I got my pic with Gaël Monfils, rather happy to hear somebody speak in French to him. He's so tall! My head arrives at the level of his shoulder...I wished him good luck and thanked him for the pic. We decided to eat something, as our stomachs were clearly asking for some consistent food. After dinner, still at the tournament, we checked if by chance some players were still practising. Great initiative! We attended a practise session of Guga for more than 1 hour. It was nice to see him back on clay. He seemed to be relax, wacking harder and harder in the ball. The backhand is a marvel!!!! Definitely... :DWhen he left the court, it was near 22.00pm. He seemed to have appreciated that some people watched him practise and waved goodbye when he left. Nobody was playing anymore as it was too dark. We took a last drink before going back to the hotel, our minds already full of great images...We went to bed with the firm intention to find Gaston training on the following day. To Be Continued... |
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Post by adeegee on Jul 20, 2005 12:41:06 GMT -5
Nice report Choupi. I like it when I hear stories about when players are nice with fans. Can I see the pics please! adamglekin@hotmail.com Looking forward to Tuesday's report! |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 20, 2005 12:51:30 GMT -5
Thanks Adam. If you want me to post some pics, just tell me which player you'd like. I have around 75 pics...so I can definitely not send them all!  |
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Post by adeegee on Jul 20, 2005 12:54:04 GMT -5
 I didnt realise you had so many! Zabaleta, Monfils, Guga and Gaston would be much appreciated! |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 20, 2005 13:24:11 GMT -5
OK Adam. I'll post them after I have written the report of Day 2. |
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Post by TennisHack on Jul 20, 2005 13:24:39 GMT -5
Thanks for the report, Choupi! Zaba was so nice to you, that gives him a few brownie points in my estimation I'd like to request your pictures of Florian, please I wish he (and Filo later) hadn't lost, but thems the breaks, I guess. |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 20, 2005 13:26:32 GMT -5
That's ok Hackie. Same as for Adam. After I post the report of day 2... |
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Post by TennisHack on Jul 20, 2005 13:29:13 GMT -5
Cool |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 20, 2005 15:27:51 GMT -5
2nd part of the report... Day 2: When I woke up on Tuesday, it was grey outside and raining cats and dogs!  It didn't seem to be a very good start for the day, tennistically speaking! But, the luck was definitely on our side. After the shower and the good German breakfast, it wasn't raining anymore. That's when Betty and I have posted our short msg on the MTF, to give some news, before going to the tournament. We arrived there at around 10am. As matches were only to begin at 11am, and the sky was still full of grey clouds, we wandered around the different courts, to check which players were already training. We saw Schüettler on the Center Court (yes Lee, only for you I attended some of his practise, telling myself I had a promise to keep!!!!  ), then we went further on and saw Chucho with Calleri and some other Argentines. We waited a bit on that court, wishing for some other Argentines to come along but as our wish didn't seem to be fulfilled we went further. There were some other players already practising like Mathieu (I was still furious at him after his terrible loss in the DC this weekend so I didn't come closer ), Ferrer, who is a hard worker, he's always training! Jérôme Haehnel passed by and we told him good luck as he was 1st match on the Center Court, against Waske. He looked at us and he thanked us. He was so shy!!!! We went back to Chucho, to check if other Argies had arrived but instead, they had all disappeared...So we went and sat on the Center Court, waiting for the 1st match to begin. When Waske entered the court, he surprisingly got less applause than Haehnel. Of course, you can imagine that I haven't spared my efforts in French, for Jérôme. Unfortunately, he lost the 1st set after the tiebreak. It had started to rain during that set but neither the players nor the umpire have estimated they should interrupt the game. So we were thankfull I had my umbrella. Good point, it's been the last time it rained on that day! We left Jérôme after the loss of the 1st set and went back to the practise courts. I felt a bit ashamed to leave Haehnel in that position but that feeling didn't last long, as when we reached the courts, the so long awaited moment happened! ;D Gaston was there, practising. I couldn't believe my eyes. And who was the sparring partner? Mariano, of course! They both seemed to have great fun. It was relax but serious at the same time. They were with some other players, they kept on changing partners after each break. Mariano left first, more than likely because of his match scheduled in the afternoon. Gaston stayed and kept on practising. More and more people were coming along that court. We lost all hopes to be able to talk to him when he leaves the court, little by little. As it seemed that the crowd was what stopped Gaston from coming towards us, to leave the court. Yet, there came the time when he had to go out of the court and he passed by us, stopped for a few autographs for the kids who were asking. We didn't do anything as we felt it wasn't the right time...He signed autographs, but he seemed to be in a hurry.  All we did was take some close pics of when he was signing, as it was the closest from him we ever had been. Like for the episode with Mariano on the previous day, it took us some time to come back to reality. After all, our dream had just ended up coming true. We decided to have lunch and go back to the matches afterwards. But, the players who were playing weren't actually the ones we felt like watching, so we wandered around the practise sessions, once again. We met Davydenko, Youzhny, Andreev...and Novak, who was with his kids. That was lovely to see. He obviously was over with practising but stayed on the court to play with his kids. While he was playing with his son, his youngest daughter was trying to wack in a ball, with a racket that seemed to be taller than her! She was so cute...once, her ball came up to us, in the stands and I simply threw it back to her. She smiled at me and thanked me! She is really nice. Jiry is an adorable father. All good moment having an end, we went further and actually ended up on the Grandstand, watching the end of Verdasco/Almagro. The 1st set had been won 7/6 by Nando, but the 2nd set was one way. Almagro was totally outplayed and lost 6/0...The fans of Nando were numerous in the stands, so it was very noisy. But when the match was over, it got back to normal. Then we saw Monfils vs Starace. Of course, I have cheered loud for Gaël, in French. He made some great shots, but many errors which have been lethal to him, facing a Potito particularly inspired and lucky on that day. He has been too much in a hurry to make the point, and most of the time, Potito being more experienced, has managed to take advantage of the situation, as he waited for the right opportunity and most of the time, it's been successful. During the 1st set, Robredo and his coach have sat next to us. Tommy only stayed for some games but the coach stayed a good part of the match, as the winner was to play Tommy in the next round. We were desperatly waiting for the upcoming match, Mariano Zabaleta vs Olivier Rochus. When Starace won his match, we seized the opportunity, while people were leaving the stands, to find the best places to follow that match. Needless to say that when Mariano entered the court, he got the warm welcome he deserved. ;D Rochus had also some fans in the stands, which made it even more interesting. That match was the best I've seen of all the matches or parts of matches I've attended in Stuttgart, and probably RG. Mariano has begun the match with a love game on his serve. He served wonderfully well. Yet, the following games have been rather scary.  He made many errors, shouting in Spanish between the points, things that I wouldn't repeat here...his clan was sitting right behind us. Monaco came along as well. That's where I noticed how beautiful his hair is!!!!!! OK, back to Mariano's match. Some people have left the court, thinking that it wasn't Zaba's day, convinced that the match would go for Rochus. Well, the 1st half of the 1st set gave them right. But, it was without knowing Mariano and his fighting spirit. He won several games in a row and ended up losing the 1st set but only on 6/4. Wich was much less serious than expected at first. Gaston has come to see part of 1st set. But unfortunately, he couldn't come and sit where the staff was, as the stands there were crowded... The 2nd set has been terrific. Rochus lost his 1st serve efficiency and Mariano broke him twice, taking the set 6/2. The rallies were great and the net seemed to be on the Argentine side. We had our hands painfull, clapping so much to applaude and encourage our fave. The 3rd set has been tighter than the 2nd. Mariano finally broke Rochus, taking a good option on the match. But Rochus never gave up, offering us great points. When the umpire announced "Game Set and Match Zabaleta 4/6 6/2 6/3" we were overjoyed. I had often read about Mariano's fighting qualities, but I had only seen them on tv against Federer in Miami. Witnessing it live from the stands is something I guess I'll never forget. If you have never lived that experience, you probably will have a hard time understanding the emotion. When Mariano left the court, he was so happy and shared his joy with the ones who haven't stopped cheering on him for the whole match. It was really great to see!!! After living such an outstanding experience, I needed to recover a bit and the time for me to leave and catch my train was coming close. We wandered a last time around the different courts, and I finally left the place when Guga lost the 1st set 6/4. That's the last thing I heard from the loudspeakers. I left Betty and headed the hotel, to take my bag, and then went to the station, with so many great memories on my mind. When I left the hotel and the tournament, I thought inside of me "see you next year"... |
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Post by TennisHack on Jul 20, 2005 15:49:58 GMT -5
 You finally got to see Gaston and the fabulous abs! Wow! Aww!  Jiri's kids are so cute, at least in the pictures I've seen Sounds like the way Kafel was with his daughter. Well it sounds like you witnessed some great matches! I think it's great that Haehnel got such a response vs Waske. He's a practical unknown here (I don't think people remember him beating Agassi last year at RG anymore) so it's nice to hear that's not the case over there. I'm not generally a fan of the Argentines but I can appreciate the passion with which they play. It sounds like the Zabaleta-Rochus match was quite special in that regard, and I think we can all relate to those special tennis moments I liked your description in the Day 1 report of walking in the rain through a German cemetary. I don't find things like that spooky, but rather interesting. Maybe I'm morbid but it sounds like quite a perfect beginning to your rainy German holiday. At least it wasn't a bad omen |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 20, 2005 16:03:16 GMT -5
I'm not generally a fan of the Argentines but I can appreciate the passion with which they play. It sounds like the Zabaleta-Rochus match was quite special in that regard, and I think we can all relate to those special tennis moments If you have the opportunity, one day, to see that match of Zaba, seize it! It will be worth. That's really typical Zaba and fighting spirit!!!! Well, in fact, we were scared by the storm, not by the place. As there were many high trees around and the thunder was very strong...beside the storm, it's a lovely place, peaceful, nice flowers...and it's no joke. |
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Post by Francine on Jul 20, 2005 16:11:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the report Choupi! Mariano sounds like a sweet guy, I'm glad he won And you finally saw Gaston! Too bad he didn't have much time. You sat next to Tommy :lust: sounds like you didn't enjoy that as much as I would have Was Calleri in Stuttgart that surprises me cos he's playing in Amersfoort this week, I hope to see him practice tomorrow |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 20, 2005 16:57:24 GMT -5
So who did I take for Agustin? A player, Argentine, who is very similar, but who? |
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Post by adeegee on Jul 20, 2005 17:11:32 GMT -5
Another great report Choupi, sounds like you had loads of fun, and most of the players you like won I have no idea which Argentine looks like Calleri |
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Post by TennisHack on Jul 20, 2005 22:05:40 GMT -5
If you have the opportunity, one day, to see that match of Zaba, seize it! It will be worth. That's really typical Zaba and fighting spirit!!!! I have seen Zab play, actually, though unfortunately I think it was when he was beating the stuffing out of Guga in Cincy. I didn't enjoy that match at all Yes, I can certainly understand that! I'm no fan of storms, or being out in them. But there's something about European cemeteries that is very interesting |
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jul 21, 2005 2:06:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the reports and it seems Stuttgart has been really good to you.
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Post by Choupi on Jul 21, 2005 2:14:54 GMT -5
It's been more than good! It's been terrific! Now you understand why I so much wanna go back next year!!! ;D Apart from the storm we have had to cope with, everything went great!
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jul 21, 2005 2:21:06 GMT -5
The smaller events are usually better in this regard and some are better than others.
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Post by adeegee on Jul 21, 2005 11:18:51 GMT -5
Thanks for the pics Choupi, they're great |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 21, 2005 15:34:42 GMT -5
You're welcome! Glad you like them. |
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Post by TennisHack on Jul 21, 2005 17:33:25 GMT -5
Choupi, thanks for the lovely Mayer pics!  Even when he's losing he's gorgeous |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 22, 2005 2:10:01 GMT -5
You're welcome Hackie! But you know, it's easy when you sit front row, with your feet on the clay, to take such pics! And when a player is gorgeous, he's always such, winning or losing! |
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Post by TennisHack on Jul 22, 2005 3:47:07 GMT -5
You were in the front row, with your feet on the clay?! Wow! And here I thought you just had a magnificent zoom lens You're quite right about appearances, of course! He's beginning to remind me a lot of dear injured Micha, actually... |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 22, 2005 3:53:09 GMT -5
Yes Hackie, I was in the front row. I have no zoom lens! I guess that ordering tickets online very early helps to get very good seats!!!! Front row on the 1st day, 2nd on the 2nd day! |
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Post by Patrik Sjöberg on Jul 22, 2005 4:40:48 GMT -5
Someone got very good seats didn't they. I was always lucky when I managed to get good seats.
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Post by Choupi on Jul 22, 2005 5:41:51 GMT -5
Someone got very good seats didn't they. I was always lucky when I managed to get good seats. I don't know if it was luck...but it was great, that's sure! And attending the end of the match previous to the one you absolutely want to see on the courts where you don't have reserved places is a good tactic to be able, when everybody leaves, to go and sit exactly where you wanna sit. |
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Post by TennisHack on Jul 22, 2005 16:23:33 GMT -5
Well the pics are really, really good. |
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Post by Choupi on Jul 23, 2005 4:28:32 GMT -5
Thanks Hackie! I'll pass on your compliments to the talented photographer! |
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Post by The Chloe on Jul 23, 2005 21:38:22 GMT -5
Thanks, Choupie I might ask for some photos later ;D |
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, I arrived at the main Station in Stuttgart around 1PM. It was pretty hot, no need to tell you how terrible it was, especially in places like stations! I had to wait for some friends from the MTF, because we had settled the appointment at the station. The first one I was to meet was Corinna and one of her friends. They arrived around 45 minutes after me. It was nice to finally put a face on somebody I've been chatting with for some months now. As they were both German, I seized the opportunity to ask them to show me how to get metro tickets, and so on...which they did, very nicely! After that, my partner in crime, I name Betty, arrived from Milano, after so many hours of train...But it was the 1st time we met, and it was a great moment. 
Anyway, Beck, totally confident started to piss me off, in the sense that he kept on screaming "come on" every time he was winning a point, jumping and behaving a bit like Nadal, but of course, without the same talent! So, a mix of Hewitt and Nadal...definitely not attractive for me! 
Yet, he won the match and will play Gaston next. I hope that he'll kick his ass, showing how to behave on a tennis court! ;D Then, we decided to go and wander around, checking what was still happening on the other courts. When we saw that Monaco was still playing, I immediately thought that, maybe, some other Argentine players might be in the stands, to support their friend. I wasn't wrong! When I checked from outside the court, I spotted Mariano Zabaleta... :oNeedless to say that we entered the stands as fast as possible! It was the end of the match. Monaco won rather easily. Mariano seemed to be very relaxed. We knew he had won his match in the afternoon, rather easily. So, when they all stood up to leave, I asked him if he agreed to do some pics with us. Which he nicely accepted, smiling! He's really up to his reputation of very friendly guy. While we were taking the pics, we talked a bit with him, congratulating him for his win, of course, and explaining him that we were also big Gaston fans. That's when, without us asking for it, he informed us that Gaston was to arrive only on the evening because he wasn't to play before Wednesday. I got really scared, fearing to re-live the bad experience of missing him again, after RG...Mariano laughed at us when we said we were sad because we wouldn't see him play, once again. 
But when I told him briefly how it happened for me in Paris, he got more compassionate, and told me that if I don't see him play on Tuesday, I'll surely see him practise. We thanked him, wished him good luck for his next match, promising to be there to cheer for him and he left. It took some minutes before we finally realized what happened to us! We kept on wandering around the alleys, meeting many players, very relax at that time of the day, all matches being almost over. That's where I got my pic with Gaël Monfils, rather happy to hear somebody speak in French to him. He's so tall! My head arrives at the level of his shoulder...I wished him good luck and thanked him for the pic. We decided to eat something, as our stomachs were clearly asking for some consistent food.
It didn't seem to be a very good start for the day, tennistically speaking! But, the luck was definitely on our side. After the shower and the good German breakfast, it wasn't raining anymore. That's when Betty and I have posted our short msg on the MTF, to give some news, before going to the tournament. 
), then we went further on and saw Chucho with Calleri and some other Argentines. We waited a bit on that court, wishing for some other Argentines to come along but as our wish didn't seem to be fulfilled we went further. There were some other players already practising like Mathieu (I was still furious at him after his terrible loss in the DC this weekend so I didn't come closer 
All we did was take some close pics of when he was signing, as it was the closest from him we ever had been. Like for the episode with Mariano on the previous day, it took us some time to come back to reality. After all, our dream had just ended up coming true. 
He made many errors, shouting in Spanish between the points, things that I wouldn't repeat here...his clan was sitting right behind us. Monaco came along as well. That's where I noticed how beautiful his hair is!!!!!! 
