My Week at Birmingham

Okay im not gonna report on matches coz most other people ave done that. Just weird/funny things that happened.

OMG Tennis attracts some major. There was this one guy in particular who was freekin scary, the kind of guy who if you saw him coming down the road youd cross to the other side. I would describe him, but he might be one of you lot ;)

Anyway I was sitting next to Sonya Jeysaleen and this guy who I dont thin is her coach, but travles with the Americans and everyone seems to know him. We kinda got chatting a bit and I was juts asking her why she wasnt playing singles, and then I pretended not to know she'd been injured as she liked talking about it. I tyalked about ehr doubles qualifying macth, she smacked dhenin in teh back with a ball by mistake, it as so funny. So we laughed about that. She asked me where I was from as I didnt sound like everyone else here so I said Edinburgh and she said "cool". She's been there a couple of times and loves it. I said Im going to uni in September and can't wait to get away. So I explained why I was here, she's heard about gbtennisgirls but hasnt been to the site, but she thinks its a great idea.

So anyway, this freak i was talking about is hovering about and Sonya goes "why does this sport attract so many freaks? I mean c'mon, he's just creeping everyone out" I said I'd never really noticed it before, mainly coz the other events im involved with are challengers which no1 goes to watch (she found that funny). So this guy had come on his own bt was just randomnly talking to people, but they didnt want to talk to him. THey just wanted to watch the tennis and he'd be saying all these facts about this play, there scores and stuff, and Sonya said the funniest thing, she went "Christ! I dont even know who I beat last week, let alone the scores, and this guy knows every result in history. Thats just wrong, man." So we were just chatting about stuff, and she was being all technical as to why Lindsay-Lee was getting beat, and i just nodded and went "oh right" coz i dont understand technical shit.

So anyway the guy, who asks for an autograph and says soemthing to the player, and Sonya mimicks him - it was hilarious. Then that player came oevr and looked at Sonya and me and we just laughed. Me like Sonya.

Keith Woolridge was running around like a headless chicken coz of bally and Anne's injuries.

Chatted to Marlene Weingartner in an internet cafe, she insitgated the conversation coz I was pretty much the only person cheering her on against Janet Lee.

Spotted Sequera and Snyder going in MacDonalds. I was behind them in teh queue and all i can say is what PIES!! God knows how Milagros is that tiny if she was gonna eat all that she ordered.

Chatted a bit to Lucie, she's feeling good. She said that no matter what she will win a match at Wimbledon this year, seh doesnt care who she plays, on what court and if she is 60 50 40-0 up, or 60 50 40-0 down she wont loose. She's added a ton of power since i last saw her, her serve is now a weapon, not a liability.

First couple of days were amusing as it was obvious who cant play on grass to save her life.

Vento looks like a mouse, but she's nice though.

Widjaja is a BIG girl.

Linday-Lee Waters remined me of Linzi Reilly, only infinately better.

Maria is hubba-hubba, I even got a smile ;) Maybe she liked red-haeded scots.

Dozens of policeman arrived 'on duty' whenever Anna went to practise before she pulled out. I saw her crying in clubhouse, not nice. I never liked her but i felt so sorry for her, I smiled and she smiled back, but she looked like she wanted to go jump off a bridge.

EGGY WOT DO YOU LOOK LIKE?! Can't believe i was there all week and never met the meistro himself. Were lots of people I thought were you, but then i figured, no it cant be you, he has an Australian accent. Or no that can't be you, that's a woman.

Thanks for the tidbits. :)

Did any of the Asian players grab your attention on/off the court? Or were they all dull? :o

Great report! Glad to hear Sonya is doing well.

Maybe Eggy was the creepy guy ;)

j/k Eggy...you know I luv ya!

trust me, Abi Spears wouldnt have let him anywhere near her, let alone hit with her, so not that wasnt him - thank god.

Tammy is so much fun, she's really nice and sweet. A group of local (asian) girls from teh uni came to watch and were cheering for her, and she waved at them during ehr match then after came out and said thankyou adn asked them there names and stuff.

oh really funny thing during Tanasugran-Serra-Zanetti match.

Tammy serves and it hits the net, Antonella returns it, Tammy stands there. Antonella walks back. Umpire says nothing. Antonella looks at her sister in crowd laughs, and wanders over to teh other court.

Tammy stands there. She looks at teh umpire and goes "let?". And he shakes his head. She goes, "it hit the net, we all heard it", and the umpire says "I didnt hear anything", and Tammy comes out with "maybe you should get your ears cleaned out then".

So next point, Tammy somehow manages to make her serve clip teh top of the net, and the umpire shouts "let, first serve". The whole crowd starts cheering. Tammy has this big grin and starts waving her arms to say "louder louder" and Antonella just has to laugh too. The umpire just goes bright red and starts to squirm.

Classic.

oh i went off the Asian players as they are a bunch of cheats. (not tammy though)

Okay cheats is too strong but here is the big example:

Lee vs Prakusya

Tu has just won, Wynne knows she will make main draw. She tanks the match horrifically, as Janet needs all teh help she can get, and they decided that Janet would be allowed to win easily so she gets lots of points. Not only was it obvious to watcy, they were talking about it before they went on court. I even heard them discussing the wot scoreline they were going to have :fiery:

oh i went off the Asian players as they are a bunch of cheats. (not tammy though)

Okay cheats is too strong but here is the big example:

Lee vs Prakusya

Tu has just won, Wynne knows she will make main draw. She tanks the match horrifically, as Janet needs all teh help she can get, and they decided that Janet would be allowed to win easily so she gets lots of points. Not only was it obvious to watcy, they were talking about it before they went on court. I even heard them discussing the wot scoreline they were going to have :fiery:
I totally expected that from the two. :rolleyes:

Well Janet did go on to beat Weingartner in the next rd, so it must've been worth it. ;)

lol @ the Tammy story! :p

I just love her attitude on court! :D

LOL, I love your real reports Paul.

Terrific! :D

trust me, Abi Spears wouldnt have let him anywhere near her, let alone hit with her, so not that wasnt him - thank god.

Tammy is so much fun, she's really nice and sweet. A group of local (asian) girls from teh uni came to watch and were cheering for her, and she waved at them during ehr match then after came out and said thankyou adn asked them there names and stuff.

oh really funny thing during Tanasugran-Serra-Zanetti match.

Tammy serves and it hits the net, Antonella returns it, Tammy stands there. Antonella walks back. Umpire says nothing. Antonella looks at her sister in crowd laughs, and wanders over to teh other court.

Tammy stands there. She looks at teh umpire and goes "let?". And he shakes his head. She goes, "it hit the net, we all heard it", and the umpire says "I didnt hear anything", and Tammy comes out with "maybe you should get your ears cleaned out then".

So next point, Tammy somehow manages to make her serve clip teh top of the net, and the umpire shouts "let, first serve". The whole crowd starts cheering. Tammy has this big grin and starts waving her arms to say "louder louder" and Antonella just has to laugh too. The umpire just goes bright red and starts to squirm.

Classic.

Thanks for a wonderful report. :hearts:
Tammy is sweetie and nice. :kiss:

No Paul, there was only 1 creep there carrying a camera, some Plastic Bags, with the Orange Hat (I'm sure some others saw him and can describe him as a Mr Bean who talks too much)

he really pissed off Simon,(Tatiana Perebiynis' coach) as she played Granville, he kept doing running commentary.

I didn't think i met anyone from here there although you never can tell if you did. was always too busy watching matches or near the practice courts.



Tuesday was the only bad day, when it rained (pissed down around 3pm), lucky i went to indoor courts, Huber was there along with Musgrave, Abi Spears, plus a few others. Had a little bit of a hit with Abi as she was just starting off before Yuka Yoshida arrived.

WIdjaja i wouldn't describe her as big, average would me more the word.

angie just has a chubby face.

she's big compared to most of the other girls there, you could snap Ondraskova in half.

Other things:

Lindsay Lee-Waters and her coach/husband setting off for a night on the town.

Mr "BUENA BUENA" is a hoot. He's Masha's coach and every point he wins all you hear is him scream "BUENA BUENA" (or however you spell it). Walked about with a big cheesy grin, oh and unsurprisingly, when i said what a great player she was and stuff the went, "believe me, you havent seen anything yet"

oh and Maria Vento-Kabchi seemed to be having a family reunion Her hubby was there (obviously, hes also her coach), then her sister turned up later in teh week, and her mother, and her niece, and her aunt, and some other random family members.

Mr "Buena Buena" isn't Maria's coach, thats her dad (Yuri Sharapov ;))
her coach was the younger guy off the 3, he's just her travelling coach.

Hi!
Eggy did you saw Gisela? :wavey:

Jess..... see Gise thread :)

Thanks for mentioning my girl Lindsay Lee-Waters. She's the sweetest player in the world.

Also Masha's coach did the same thing when I saw her play last year. He had his own chair set up by the bleachers (it was a small court) only he would get up and walk away when she started to get down, he is a very nervous man it seemed

OK, thankssssssss

yeah i notice there were 3. mr buena buena, a short, fat balding guy, and a younger guy with sunglasses who kept applying suncreen to his face every 15 seconds.

gise is huba-hubba, and a good player too. I didnt see her first match, btu she acquitted herself well against Foretz, but I think was just outclassed in the end.

lmao.. yeah.. imo, angie is tall and big.. (does that mean fat :o )

lmao at tammy's story

Thanks for the reports. :)
Did you happen to see Ansley? Was she playing horribly conservative?

Oh and cut Wynne and Janet some slack. I'm sure they thought very hard about that before deciding what score. ;)

lol, funny to see your info about the wierdo i saw at eastbourne. your description its 100%correct

No Paul, there was only 1 creep there carrying a camera, some Plastic Bags, with the Orange Hat (I'm sure some others saw him and can describe him as a Mr Bean who talks too much)

he really pissed off Simon,(Tatiana Perebiynis' coach) as she played Granville, he kept doing running commentary.

I didn't think i met anyone from here there although you never can tell if you did. was always too busy watching matches or near the practice courts.



Tuesday was the only bad day, when it rained (pissed down around 3pm), lucky i went to indoor courts, Huber was there along with Musgrave, Abi Spears, plus a few others. Had a little bit of a hit with Abi as she was just starting off before Yuka Yoshida arrived.

WIdjaja i wouldn't describe her as big, average would me more the word.



haha this is cracking me up