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Yeah, so today was pretty cool.
We got to the tennis center at 8:45. We walked from the East Gate all the way around the grounds (on the outside, mind you) to the West Gate aka Presidential Entrance. As we approached it, there were cops all around inspecting cars and stuff and said we needed to go to the South Gate. So, we walk all the way to the South Gate and they tell us that we're either allowed in at 9 or 10. So, we sit around, and at about 9:30 we decide to get up and go try again. We asked like every guard on the way if we could go to the closest entrance, and everyone said back to the East Gate, the normal one. So, our plans of standing at the player entrance didn't work out too well.
So, we sat around for quite a little. We got some sodas for less than half the price they would have been as inside and went over to the East Practice Courts. Saw Jill Craybas, and some others (we think Cho, Dally, Yulia, and some others). We just sat around; Mikey spilled soda all over ASV's pants, and decided to get in line. It was like 2,000 people long, and the line with bags moved faster than the line without bags. Got in, went over to the practice courts to see what was happening. Saw a few people, walked around the grounds. Watched Petrova practice, and just meandered our way around. Went to the main practice courts and waited for some people to come to get autos. Not much happened.
Went to go watch Petrova v Castano. Wow, Petrova is awesome, incredibly nice, and a great tennis player. Castano would build up leads and then blow them. I can't even tell you how many times she had 15-40 or 0-40 and having Nadia come back to win the game. Watched the first set, which wasn't bad, but wasn't like 'wow'. Just typical tennis, with a great player. Nadia is definitely one to watch and definitely one of our new favorites.
After that, we went to watch Rita and Tamarine's second set. It was all right. Rita should have won the 2nd, but blew a huge lead. Tammy lost quite a good deal of weight.
At about that time, we went and stood around the practice court/entrance where the players come/go onto the grounds. They are definitely bypassing this from now on, and they are switching gates based on how many people are standing outside. Nothing really exciting happened, but I will list everyone we saw.
After that, we went and caught Svetlana and Flavia's second set. Again, it wasn't great, but I loved seeing two of my favorites. Flavia has a bit of an attitude problem and we think she was getting help from her coach who wrote down every point and whom Flavia looked at after each point.
After that we went to our favorite place in NYC, the crepe stand. Mikey got a delicious chicken, mushroom, and spinach crepe while ASV had a wonderful Chicken, Ham, and Cheese crepe. We ate and then decided to stalk tennis players for a little. We stood outside the practice courts and just waited around, occasionally seeing someone, and occasionally getting their signature or being blown off by them.
The new hang out is in between the South and West entrances on Ashe stadium where the players sometimes go after matches and sometimes come out from. There were like 200 people standing around at one point...It was ridiculous. The security guard lady there is funny in a rude sort of way, and loves making you feel like an idiot. If you love being talked down to, this is your spot.
Sometime throughout the day we went to see Myriam and Eleni play...Myriam was crushing the ball and Eleni didn't have anything to hurt her. We also caught some of Zuzana and Milagros. Zuzana is very good, but just inconsistent. We also went into the Tennis Show, which sucked, but was air conditioned, so ASV thinks it equaled out, but Mikey thought was a waste of time.
The WTA Tour booth this year sucks and is only for information and packages for the Championships. The Chase booth doesn't seem to have autograph sessions. The George Foreman booth has free samples of food, which ASV didn't realize until he saw the toothpicks and Mikey didn't realize until he reads this.
For dinner/desert we went and got more crepes. Mikey got a strawberry and Nutella one while ASV got a banana and Nutella one. They were both fabulous and worthwhile. As we feasted, we went and watched Paola and Angelika play. Angelika is just like Dokic, only more volatile and inconsistent. Her coach was giving her advice the entire time, it was so obvious how she would imitate what he did like the exact same time as he did it. The match was pretty good on Paola's part, but the points were short as a result of Roesch's inconsistency.
After that, we went and walked around a little, and decided to leave. Took the subway back.
The people we met/talked to:
Gisela Dulko - Walked by, no one recognized her. Mikey caught her name-tag (this was when about 100 people were by the practice courts) and about 5 feet past the courts he asked for her autograph. He claims she said thanks for asking or something. ASV was too lazy to walk over.
Angela Haynes - Mikey asked for her autograph and then like 50 other people did as well. She seemed to like it.
Tina Krizan - Actually, we were screaming her name through a barricade, and she didn't realize, but when she did she like smiled back at us. She was thrilled to have been recognized.
Wynne Prakusya - Mikey got her autograph, but ASV didn't feel like it.
Svetlana Kuz - Seemed to be in a rush, but greatly signed. Told her she's the best (because she is, of course).
Katerina Srebotnik - Saw her, said a few words, she commented how there was no room on Mikey's page.
Tathiana Garbin - Was thrilled Mikey recognized her (though he had no idea, I was very comfortable but told him about it) and she asked him his name.
Magui Serna, Conchita, Yevgeny, Todd Martin, Dementieva were all just normal and gave there's.
Pam Shriver was on a cell phone and we got hers. After we did like 100 people swarmed and she was like 'Erm...I'm really busy and like bolted away'. I was glad that happened since she's a sucky commentator.
Maja Matevzic - Asked her how to REALLY pronounce her name (its like Maya) and she was pretty surprised that we knew her name in the first place.
Myriam passed when the huge crowd was there, so I said her name and semi-waved. When she returned I said her name and she came right over. Very cool and what we thought was her sister looks just like her only skinny.
Agassi signed like 10 autographs and then left, J.Cap wouldn't sign any...LATER as always..., Davenport left after her practice session and never showed up again, Sharapova darted after her practice.
Saw Drake a few times, but she looked busy every time.
Sprem signed for us after she lost on the way back to the locker-room, probably because we knew who she was and didn't just ask (we called her by name).
We asked what looked to be Bartoli again just to piss her off, but it wasn't her. We felt like asses.
Sanchez-Lorenzo was in grasping distance twice, but both opportunities were missed.
Tina Pisnik signed, looked like she didn't enjoy being recognized, but didn't frown about it.
Dokic came over after we said 'Jelena, would you please sign this'. She seemed a little down as always, but not like upset.
Saw Theresa Logar like every 5 minutes, but no one knew her/recognized her.
Iva just strolled around the grounds for a while, signed, same with Lori McNeil.
Corina signed for us despite a loss.
Laura Montalvo has put on about 100 pounds and isn't that recognizable anymore.
That was pretty much it for the day that I can remember.
We have yet to give Craybas the message from Marsha, but it will be delivered, as Arantxa fans always stick together.
Looks to be a fun day tomorrow.
We got to the tennis center at 8:45. We walked from the East Gate all the way around the grounds (on the outside, mind you) to the West Gate aka Presidential Entrance. As we approached it, there were cops all around inspecting cars and stuff and said we needed to go to the South Gate. So, we walk all the way to the South Gate and they tell us that we're either allowed in at 9 or 10. So, we sit around, and at about 9:30 we decide to get up and go try again. We asked like every guard on the way if we could go to the closest entrance, and everyone said back to the East Gate, the normal one. So, our plans of standing at the player entrance didn't work out too well.
So, we sat around for quite a little. We got some sodas for less than half the price they would have been as inside and went over to the East Practice Courts. Saw Jill Craybas, and some others (we think Cho, Dally, Yulia, and some others). We just sat around; Mikey spilled soda all over ASV's pants, and decided to get in line. It was like 2,000 people long, and the line with bags moved faster than the line without bags. Got in, went over to the practice courts to see what was happening. Saw a few people, walked around the grounds. Watched Petrova practice, and just meandered our way around. Went to the main practice courts and waited for some people to come to get autos. Not much happened.
Went to go watch Petrova v Castano. Wow, Petrova is awesome, incredibly nice, and a great tennis player. Castano would build up leads and then blow them. I can't even tell you how many times she had 15-40 or 0-40 and having Nadia come back to win the game. Watched the first set, which wasn't bad, but wasn't like 'wow'. Just typical tennis, with a great player. Nadia is definitely one to watch and definitely one of our new favorites.
After that, we went to watch Rita and Tamarine's second set. It was all right. Rita should have won the 2nd, but blew a huge lead. Tammy lost quite a good deal of weight.
At about that time, we went and stood around the practice court/entrance where the players come/go onto the grounds. They are definitely bypassing this from now on, and they are switching gates based on how many people are standing outside. Nothing really exciting happened, but I will list everyone we saw.
After that, we went and caught Svetlana and Flavia's second set. Again, it wasn't great, but I loved seeing two of my favorites. Flavia has a bit of an attitude problem and we think she was getting help from her coach who wrote down every point and whom Flavia looked at after each point.
After that we went to our favorite place in NYC, the crepe stand. Mikey got a delicious chicken, mushroom, and spinach crepe while ASV had a wonderful Chicken, Ham, and Cheese crepe. We ate and then decided to stalk tennis players for a little. We stood outside the practice courts and just waited around, occasionally seeing someone, and occasionally getting their signature or being blown off by them.
The new hang out is in between the South and West entrances on Ashe stadium where the players sometimes go after matches and sometimes come out from. There were like 200 people standing around at one point...It was ridiculous. The security guard lady there is funny in a rude sort of way, and loves making you feel like an idiot. If you love being talked down to, this is your spot.
Sometime throughout the day we went to see Myriam and Eleni play...Myriam was crushing the ball and Eleni didn't have anything to hurt her. We also caught some of Zuzana and Milagros. Zuzana is very good, but just inconsistent. We also went into the Tennis Show, which sucked, but was air conditioned, so ASV thinks it equaled out, but Mikey thought was a waste of time.
The WTA Tour booth this year sucks and is only for information and packages for the Championships. The Chase booth doesn't seem to have autograph sessions. The George Foreman booth has free samples of food, which ASV didn't realize until he saw the toothpicks and Mikey didn't realize until he reads this.
For dinner/desert we went and got more crepes. Mikey got a strawberry and Nutella one while ASV got a banana and Nutella one. They were both fabulous and worthwhile. As we feasted, we went and watched Paola and Angelika play. Angelika is just like Dokic, only more volatile and inconsistent. Her coach was giving her advice the entire time, it was so obvious how she would imitate what he did like the exact same time as he did it. The match was pretty good on Paola's part, but the points were short as a result of Roesch's inconsistency.
After that, we went and walked around a little, and decided to leave. Took the subway back.
The people we met/talked to:
Gisela Dulko - Walked by, no one recognized her. Mikey caught her name-tag (this was when about 100 people were by the practice courts) and about 5 feet past the courts he asked for her autograph. He claims she said thanks for asking or something. ASV was too lazy to walk over.
Angela Haynes - Mikey asked for her autograph and then like 50 other people did as well. She seemed to like it.
Tina Krizan - Actually, we were screaming her name through a barricade, and she didn't realize, but when she did she like smiled back at us. She was thrilled to have been recognized.
Wynne Prakusya - Mikey got her autograph, but ASV didn't feel like it.
Svetlana Kuz - Seemed to be in a rush, but greatly signed. Told her she's the best (because she is, of course).
Katerina Srebotnik - Saw her, said a few words, she commented how there was no room on Mikey's page.
Tathiana Garbin - Was thrilled Mikey recognized her (though he had no idea, I was very comfortable but told him about it) and she asked him his name.
Magui Serna, Conchita, Yevgeny, Todd Martin, Dementieva were all just normal and gave there's.
Pam Shriver was on a cell phone and we got hers. After we did like 100 people swarmed and she was like 'Erm...I'm really busy and like bolted away'. I was glad that happened since she's a sucky commentator.
Maja Matevzic - Asked her how to REALLY pronounce her name (its like Maya) and she was pretty surprised that we knew her name in the first place.
Myriam passed when the huge crowd was there, so I said her name and semi-waved. When she returned I said her name and she came right over. Very cool and what we thought was her sister looks just like her only skinny.
Agassi signed like 10 autographs and then left, J.Cap wouldn't sign any...LATER as always..., Davenport left after her practice session and never showed up again, Sharapova darted after her practice.
Saw Drake a few times, but she looked busy every time.
Sprem signed for us after she lost on the way back to the locker-room, probably because we knew who she was and didn't just ask (we called her by name).
We asked what looked to be Bartoli again just to piss her off, but it wasn't her. We felt like asses.
Sanchez-Lorenzo was in grasping distance twice, but both opportunities were missed.
Tina Pisnik signed, looked like she didn't enjoy being recognized, but didn't frown about it.
Dokic came over after we said 'Jelena, would you please sign this'. She seemed a little down as always, but not like upset.
Saw Theresa Logar like every 5 minutes, but no one knew her/recognized her.
Iva just strolled around the grounds for a while, signed, same with Lori McNeil.
Corina signed for us despite a loss.
Laura Montalvo has put on about 100 pounds and isn't that recognizable anymore.
That was pretty much it for the day that I can remember.
We have yet to give Craybas the message from Marsha, but it will be delivered, as Arantxa fans always stick together.
Looks to be a fun day tomorrow.
