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Nutty meets nutty JJ.. my "JJ in Cincy" thread

17K views 122 replies 31 participants last post by  ms_nut 
#1 · (Edited)
:) So after i patched up with Ros, i decided to make a JJ voodoo doll instead, but then i decided to give JJ another chance and made a "JJ t-shirt..".Maybe she would surprise me in Cincy and make it to the QF. Nah, to hell with it.. i decided to go to her 2nd rd match, 'cos i wasn't very confident if i would ever see her again in Cincy this year.

I wanted to make a really cool T-shirt, but realized that making it at the last minute was a pain.. i ended up using this pic on my t-shirt,:




Next, i managed to get out of the hospital for the rest of the day...I rushed home and went with a friend up to Mason. The tournament is actually held in Mason, Ohio, not Cincy which is in a different county.:tape::lol:.

This is the skyline of Cincinnati:





Anyway, the tournament is held close to "King's island" which is one of the biggest amusement parks in the US.

We parked on a grass field and walked up to the ticket counter.. on the way i saw someone practicing on a outside court,.. Oh, it was just Venus.. since i couldn't be bothered with her, i ran up and frantically asked the lady at the counter " are there any tickets available for today's match?" Yes,plenty .. any seat of choice that you want, she said.... And here i was worried that tickets would be sold out...:rolleyes:



Since box seats were $60 a piece.., we decided to get some mid level seats and entered the stadium...There was JJ in all her glory struggling against Maria K.. the score was 5-5 in the first set...:) JJ made a correct challenge just as i entered the stadium.. but eventually lost the game..I expected a very low turnout, but was pleasantly surprised to see that there were at least a 1000 people in the stadium...



(Who's head is that, and why is it blocking JJ's view....:mad:)

Match #1: CC : JJ vs Maria K



Anyway, my friend started taking JJ's pics, while i started biting my nails in earnest..
JJ forced a TB, but then commited some horrible UEs to go down a break .. down 3-4, she played some superb defense to win the point.. but then hit some crap shots to go down 4-6... The JJ of '08 returned just in time to hit a FH CC winner and force an error from Maria K, along with an Ajde to set up SP.. she won the 1st set, and from there, she never looked to be in trouble. She may have been hitting a lot of 2nd serves, but at least she was going for it on her 1st serves..:). Not too bad, not too sloppy, she was solid and her BH was firing on and off as she raced to a 5-3 lead in set 2. She then served something like 2 aces in that last game to shut out Kirilenko...:drool:. I was surpised to see so many people out there calling out her name..:hearts:.. she is a popular champion wherever she goes, it seems.



(sorry, my camcorder pics didn't come out very well,,:eek:)

JJ was asked during the interview how she felt playing her first match here, and she said " Well, i had to get up a 7:00 am today.." :lol:

The crowd absolutely loved her and tons of kids swarmed around her for an autograph... there was no way i could get an autograph now.. right? wrong...:p






JJ was so gracious, she was standing for quite a while, signing autographs...i snuck in behind her... i meekly yelled "JJ".. but got so tongue-tied.My friend then yelled "JJ sign my T-shirt".. JJ looked up and smiled at me when she saw her pretty face on my t-shirt staring back at her..OMG, she is simply gorgeous in person, she had so many "freckles". She signed my t-shirt and put a little heart ♥ at the end..



 
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#61 ·
It's getting late, so i'll continue the blog in the am.

Still to come:

Nutty meets JJ in 2010. (nutty also talks to Jeja and inquires about the ankle)
Just how well is JJ's ankle holding up? (aren't u all dying to find out)
:rolleyes: Rodionova/Cara Black/Cara's coach?/husband bad mouth JJ.
:devil:Marion and her dad intimidate JJ.
JJ is surrounded by a gaggle of ten year old girls.... and me.
 
#70 ·
Well, after seeing Scheepers in action, I waltzed over to the stadium because Bojana was in action against home girl Ditty. Since Bojana hasn't started beating the crap out of JJ yet, I don't quite dislike her. Infact, I might even like her, cos she teamed up with JJ in Fed Cup doubles (although they were quite the rotten team)




Brainless ball bashing 101: Close your eyes and hit the ball as hard as you can.


After a minute of watching Bojana manhandle Ditty, we sauntered back to the practice courts. I had to do a double take... was that who I think it was??? OMG, it was kleybanova and she was running for her life, I wondered why. When Klebanova runs, the earth trembles ever so slightly, the leaves rustle little bunnies run for cover and baby earthworms breathe their last.




While I was still wondering what great force caused AK to take off like the sky was falling down, I saw something very familiar. A stylish handbag/tennis bag.:hearts: No way, JJ actually made it here....:eek::eek::eek: No wonder AK took off running the other way.



.....


My heart was beating fast now. I was so close to her again!!!!! And the most surprising part... no one was following her for a while, no one even recognized her...:sad: Empress was not happy.!!!! I started running behind her and then a group of girls started following her as well. Now other people were getting interested. Hey, if people are following her, she must be famous right. As JJ walked into the practice court, I overheard the 10 year old girl in braces excitedly squealing " OMG, OMG, she walked out from the lounge and no one said anything. I was like OMG, it's Jelena. OMG, blah blah blah... OMG bleat bleat bleat...". She was actually were cute, the way she was going on about JJ.



I wasn't happy at all..:rolleyes: No one paid any attention to JJ as she walked over? The Empress must be pissed.

No sign of Sneki, Mlajdo aka sponsoruza (sp?). No coach either.Just her hitting partner. I actually missed Ricardo and his animated self.



JJ in action:






...

While JJ was sitting by the fence,with me on the other side, I picked up the courage to start a conversation:

Me: Yell-Enna, How's the ankle?
JJ: It's getting bay-ter.
Me: Good, I'm the guy who followed you around last year wearing T-shirts with your pics on it.
JJ: Really???
Me: Yes, and you won last year. I'm your good luck charm. I'll do the same this year. I hope you win again.
JJ: (laughing): thank you.
People around me: (laughing)

(All of this was happening with the fence in between me and Jeja)



So now for the most important question. How do you pronounce JJ's name. :confused:

Ye-Len-a or Yell-LAY-Na ? I know Americans call her the latter. But I've heard Serbs call her Ye-Lena
 
#71 ·
OMG, it was kleybanova and she was running for her life, I wondered why. When Klebanova runs, the earth trembles ever so slightly, the leaves rustle little bunnies run for cover and baby earthworms breathe their last.
I overheard the 10 year old girl in braces excitedly squealing " OMG, OMG, she walked out from the lounge and no one said anything. I was like OMG, it's Jelena. OMG, blah blah blah... OMG bleat bleat bleat..."
:rolls:

It's Ye-len-a but she's fine with the American way too, so...
 
#77 ·
Yell-enna it is then.

The practice session was typical JJ. She was laughing and complaining about the sun. "It's so bright, I can't hit any overhead shots". She was moving alright, serving beautifully and hitting solid FHs. No BH DTLs, just solid CC BH. She did complain a bit about her ankle when her hitting partner wrong footed her..:(. But for the most part, it looked ok to me. Obviously, it was wrapped. JJ and her hitting partner started a match. :p I didn't think he was that great, maybe he didn't serve his best because he wanted JJ to win. JJ drew first blood and broke for 2-1. JJ was hitting the ball really hard at times..:eek:. My friend even commented "She's hitting the ball harder than the other Russian girl (Dementieva).". Her FH was amazing!!. Of course it's only practice, but i was quite pleased. Maybe she has a good chance of going deep if her ankle holds up.







JJ was her usual "blind as a bat". She hit a BH about 2 feet wide and asked, "Was it in"..:lol: Her hitting buddy was "No it was just out, but it was the right idea". Smart fellow!!!









Um, hello look at the ball not the camera.


JJ vs the Bartolis:

So apparantly, Bartoli scheduled the same time on the adjacent court to practice. To intimidate JJ no doubt..:lol:

Bartoli has a diva like way of making an entrance. And her practice sessions have so much energy.








Bartoli was screaming as she hit the ball as hard as she could as Daddy Bartoli kept feeding them to her.:rolls:JJ was not so happy. It was hilarious to see JJ from time to time glance sideways and look at Bartoli pratice!!!! I wish i had taken pictures of her doing that!!!!




I was kinda hoping one of Bartoli's balls would land in JJ's court. I'd have love to have seen the drama. :lol: Poor JJ...:sad: all her tormentors practicing at the same time as her., Bartoli on the adjacent court and Kleybanova 2 courts away!!!!


JJ vs the Black/Rodionova team

So here was JJ just minding her business and practicing when who should barge into court but Black and her partner Rodionova along with Black's ?coach or husband or whomever (I'll call him Mr Black).

Mr Black seemed to be an annoying person. I thought was patronising JJ.

Mr Black: Hey, Jelena, you don't need to practice, you are so great. You should let us practice.

JJ: Oh? What time is it? It's still only 2:55 pm, we still have 5 more minutes..

.:lol: (Me thinking, yes you go girl, put them in their place)

I was still behind the fence about 1 foot away from the group and I could her their chatter.

Mr Black: She takes everything so seriously. It looks like she's lost some weight.
Cara: Umm...
Mr Black: We should just walk onto the court and make them leave
Rodionova: She'll probably say, don't you know who I am, I am the great Jelena Jankovic :eek:

At 3:00 pm on the dot, Cara and Rodionova walked onto the court and JJ started walking away.

Mr Black: Jelena, do you want to play doubles with us?
JJ: No, i'm very bad at it.
Mr Black: Come on, I know you won the mixed a few years ago.
JJ: Yeah, but that was a long time ago. (laughing as she walked away)

Once JJ came out people flocked around her, like a star-hungry mob. The cute 10 year old with braces got her picture taken with JJ. She was giddy with excitement. JJ was smiling all along (This is why I love JJ...:hearts:)

The girl was like " OMG, haha, " JJ smiled back. She then went on to tell her friend " OMG, she put her arm around me, we were so close".

I didn't have the courage to ask to take a pic with her, also there were so many people around. I also did not have my JJ gear on (a T-shirt with her autograph), so I thought maybe next time.
 
#82 ·
Mr Black: She takes everything so seriously. It looks like she's lost some weight.
Cara: Umm...
Mr Black: We should just walk onto the court and make them leave
Rodionova: She'll probably say, don't you know who I am, I am the great Jelena Jankovic :eek:
OHHELLNO! No one messes with JJ :fiery:

Also, Rodionova? Who even ARE you? Don't talk sh!t, don't get hit.
 
#79 ·
The tournament organizers put up the practice schedule of the players. Apparently JJ practiced twice (at 9:00 am on Grandstand and then at 2:00 pm).

I won't be going to the tournament today:
a) JJ won't be playing
b) It costs more ($20 for day and $20 for night) (Sorry Ana fans, i won't see her play:p)
c) It takes me about 50 minutes in total both ways to drive. (It's 25 miles away)
d) I should be studying instead of following some tennis diva.:angel:
 
#84 ·
Mr Black: She takes everything so seriously. It looks like she's lost some weight.
Cara: Umm...
Mr Black: We should just walk onto the court and make them leave
Rodionova: She'll probably say, don't you know who I am, I am the great Jelena Jankovic
She would've said: "Get the HELL off my court, losers! And shut your filthy mouths for the next 5 minutes or else you better hope parking lot is free, 'cos that where you'd practice."

 
#88 ·
Rodionova, Mr Black (sounds like a character from Reservoir Dogs :lol:) and the bartoli clan :inlove:
And I was worried we might miss out on quality JJ-centred drama due to Rezai's early exit.

Please do some more spying/stalking!!
 
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