4 days in the desert

I was in Indian Wells this year shooting for Tennis Panorama. (Thanks, Karen!) Four days in the desert with the two loves of my life, photography and tennis, I had a grand time. Obvs.

Laura Robson vs Sofia Arvidsson was the first match I went to. Laura ran across my frame and I caught this shot 3 minutes in. Not bad. Laura had a pretty good start, too, until…

Oh, well, next time.

Unhappy Pico. Maybe it was because the Argentine fans were on the wrong side of the court.

Rafa is totes judging.

It was great to see Petko back on a tennis court!

You know who else was great to see?

Clueless Pablo is the best Pablo, K?

YOU’RE WELCOME.

BYE.

Okay, Ivo, let’s refocus.

I’m pretty happy about this shot.

Rafa is late.

Masha showing off her shirt that says eternity, time with a circle and a line.
Is that, like, Geometry or what?!

ANYWAY. Some sort of Geometry obviously went into the making of this.

Totes.

Nole being Nole rolling around the grass for no reason.

Sveta being Sveta.

Benoit! Fans!

Petra’s not happy.

Muzz was not happy here either but he was using #sarcasmfont.

GUISE, WHY YOU ALL MAD?

Night time closing in during Masha’s match. She’s ready to sleep.

Rafa under the watchful eye of Mr. Ellison.

Empty practice courts at 11:00PM.

And that’s all I got from IW. I am quite pleased about how Finals Sunday unfolded in the desert. Let’s do it again next year!

IIWAPE

Let us (me) play a game called: If I Were A Photo Editor. Here are some of the photos I’d use to wrap the London 2012 Games.

A typical tennis audience size. Juuuuuuuust kidding.

Pins are apparently all the craze at the Olympics. I’m assuming Vee received the coveted RF pin.

A glitch in the system! This rare hair moment during the semifinals should have set off alarms that things were going to be very messy.

See photo. Use photo.

“Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka shared a laugh together.” Nobody would have believed me if there wasn’t photographic evidence.

Sisters.

My new life goal is to smack an Olympic gold medalist’s face with a flag. Because why not?

Goodnight.

Images via AP, Getty

So close and so close

Took a very last minute trip to Indian Wells yesterday as I couldn’t stand being so close yet so far from all the action. 2 hours on I-10 and I was so close and so close. It was awesome.

I also really wanted to see Laura Robson play live and her first round qualifying match against Casey Dellacqua was scheduled yesterday. The kid can spank the ball and played so well in the first few games but couldn’t keep it up and fell apart as the match went on. Still, glad to have seen that forehand live even if it didn’t always make it inside the lines.

Julia Goerges and Urzula Radwanska were on hand during the making of the women’s draw. I’d love to describe the face Gools made when her name was pulled out and drawn in Vika’s quarter but words won’t suffice.

Ivo Karlovic practiced with Denis Istomin. Nope. No idea how they know each other.

Before I headed home, I checked out some Pablo Andujar practicing with Potito Starace.

What’s that? This picture is useless? I know. Here’s a video:

I’ll be back there on Thursday armed with a better camera. I promise.

Stylin’

Last night was the annual pre-Wimbledon WTA party. Let’s judge, in our sweats and trainers, who was stylin, who’s in need of a team of stylists and everyone in between.

Let’s start with the ladies who have every right to strut and stomp down that carpet.

So proud of JJ not being all sparkly. It works!

Masha’s jewelry and shoes shut them all down. I love those bad ass Lara Bohinc booties!

Do you see Franny’s red toenails? Love.

The in between looks. I don’t hate them but I’m not in love with them.

Ana could have used a different hairstyle and lost the belt. I thought I liked Petko’s shoes but upon further inspection, I actually do not.

Their hairstyles are just a bit off for me.

Pretty faces but… meh safe looks. Probably how I would come at a party (safe, not pretty face).

Hire a team of stylists ASAP or fire the ones you currently have.

I’m sorry but I just hate f-ing pink and there is a lot of it going on with Sania. Plus, whattup tanlines! As for Li Na, I feel like that face on the dress is going to haunt me in my dreams.

Caro rarely gets it right so whatever. BETHANIE, you are not pushing envelopes, etc., you are looking ridiculous.

Okay, now I have to go wash my other pairs of sweats so I don’t run out and actually have to wear good clothes. Bye.

Images via Getty, CFP

9 straight hours

That’s how long I watched tennis yesterday. I can’t think of any other sport where you can do that and not get bored at some point. The simultaneous play in Auckland, Perth and Brisbane did not allow me to. And there were more from Doha and Chennai that I couldn’t catch. Who knew tennis fans were human too?

Andy and Laura, sitting in a tree. K-i-… no? Boo!

Elmer lost to Francesca Schiavone and Potito Starace in their first round robin tie, 1-2, at the Hopman Cup in Perth.

Robbie put on a great fight in her singles match against Franny. Even though she lost it, she should be pretty pleased with how well she played (despite being under the weather!) and that she almost took the first set over the veteran. Muzz took care of business in his singles match in Muzz-like fashion to even the tie. But Elmer came up a little short during the mixed doubles match- failing to serve it out in the second set. Then, lost all control in the super tiebreak. *sad face/sigh/groan*

Elsewhere, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova won their year-openers in Auckland. So did Andy Roddick and Samantha Stosur in Brisbane and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nikolay Davydenko in Doha.

Image via Hopman Cup

Wimbledon 2010: A look ahead to Day 1

It’s here! Let the carnage commence!

We’re about 5 hours away from the first ball at SW19. I’m way excited! Please, tennis gods, let this be a fun one for most of us. *wink*

Wake up, grab some coffee and settle into your couch:

• Laura Robson vs Jelena Jankovic [4]
  I’m very bummed that L-Rob drew JJ to start her big girl Wimbledon campaign. It would have been fun to see her win a few rounds. If you didn’t already know, she gives good post-match pressers. It’ll be more than tough for her to take down JJ but I’ll watch to see how she handles Centre.
• Novak Djokovic [3] vs Olivier Rochus
  Olivier could give Nole a run for his money. He leads their H2H 3-1 and won their last meeting in Miami earlier this year. Yes, that shocked me too and made me a little uneasy about their match.
• Dmitry Tursunov vs Rainer Schuettler
  Hi, Dima, please win a match.
• Yanina Wickmayer [15] vs Alison Riske
  Alison had a nice run in Birmingham last week and took out Yanina in the quarters. Let’s see if she can do it again at a bigger stage where the stakes are higher and the top players out do themselves.
• Shahar Peer [13] vs Ana Ivanovic
  The first round match of the tournament!

Complete Day 1 schedule here.

Image via Getty

Trophy case: January 10, 2010

Boy, this week had so much f-ing tennis. I loved it!

Yanina Wickmayer defeated the tournament’s top seed, Flavia Pennetta, in the finals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, 6-3, 6-2, to win her third career title. A very strong start of the year for Yanina after she faced a possible 1-year suspension from the game towards the end of last season due to whereabouts issues. Way to bounce back! I see only good things in the future for this kid (including a more organized team that can report her whereabouts). Belgium will have a stellar ’10 in tennis, you can count on that.

Nikolay Davydenko continues his badassery. Oh, Kolya, you are full of good surprises. After capturing the WTF at the end of last season, besting Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal along the way, he does it all again to open the new season. He defeated RF in the semifinals of the Qatar Exxonmobil Open in Doha 6-4, 6-4 then defeated Rafa in the finals 0-6(!), 7-6(8), 6-4 after saving two match points! Oy!

This year might be a good one for Kolya to win a slam. He’s obviously not getting any younger so the “future” is not so bright for his tennis career but right now it’s looking rather darling. With RF rearranging priorities, Rafa still not back at the top of his game, Juan Martin del Potro sophomore slumping and Andy Murray thinking about Wimbledon all day and night, perhaps a real push in Melbourne could earn him a slam. But  you know, NO PRESSURE.

Yes, you’re both made of awesome. This is Kolya’s 20th career title.

Why isn’t Getty at Chennai? No, really, this photo is… small. It annoys my OCD.

Marin Cilic defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the finals of the Aircel Chennai Open in India, 7-6(2), 7-6(3). This is Marin’s fourth career title. A good follow-up to his quarterfinal run at the US Open last September. Expect him to be in the second week of Australia.

Kim Clijsters defeated Justine Henin in their blockbuster final at the Brisbane International in Australia, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6). Kim earned her 36th career title and second in her last three tournaments.

Kim was ahead in the beginning of the second set after pocketing the first pretty easily but somehow lost her marbles along with the set. Then, it was up and down in the third, Justine could not serve it out to save her life-WTA style-until Kim finally (thankfully!) clinched it in the breaker.

Well, welcome back, ladies.

Andy Roddick defeated the tournament’s defending champion, Radek Stepanek, in the finals of the Brisbane International in Australia, 7-6(2), 7-6(7).

Andy need 30,000 match points before he could finally close it out. He clearly panicked and his brain farted plenty when he tried to serve out the match twice (with that big serve, it was a display worse than a WTAer’s) and when he was up 6-2 in that second set breaker. Oh well, a win is a win is a win and he earned his 28th career title.

Who says tennis isn’t a team sport? You have a player, a coach, a trainer and sometimes even a co-player!

I am fully aware that Great Britain did not win but how could I not use this photo from the Hopman Cup? Look at those nerds.

Spain defeated GBR 2-1. It was a good and very entertaining final- put Laura Robson on court any day and we all squee and melt in cuteness. Then, we watch some more and realize, shit, this kid can handle pressure better than I can and I’m old. And that’s exactly what she did in her singles final match against Spanish veteran, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Unfortunately for GBR and my fellow Andy Murray fans, Muzz tends to overplay under pressure and Tommy Robredo really stepped up when he recognized his opportunities.

So, kudos to Spain and I better see you next year, nerds.

Russia defeated Europe 2-0 at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic finals. Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated Stefan Edberg in the men’s singles final 7-6, 6-4. Then, Maria Sharapova defeated Caroline Wozniacki in the women’s singles final 7-5, 6-3. Russia’s Vera Zvonareva sat out the finals with Europe’s Victoria Azarenka due to injuries and mental health problems.

Images via Getty, AP