My friend, Izzie, who runs Ace Advantage was at The US Open for a few days. I asked her to share what it’s like at The Open and she was very generous to recount her entire experience there.
As a favor to Maria (I’m just kidding, I’m honored to be asked), I’ll be sharing some of my photos and experiences from my week at the US Open. I attended two days before the tournament started and three days during it.
I have been coming to the US Open for 5 years-since I was 12. But I’d never experienced the awesomeness that is the week before. My goal was simple-to see players practicing and perhaps catch a qualifying match. On Friday, August 28th, I went to the grounds with my mom. Firstly, American Express had the players practice schedule posted…and as a huge Sharapova fan, I was ecstatic to see her schedule for Practice Court 1 at 1:00 pm.
With time to kill before that, I headed over to Louis Armstrong, where Novak was. He was hitting with Gulbis and having some fun, ‘challenging’ calls and whatnot. I got his autograph and moved on, getting to the courts where Maria would be. Maria walked onto the court while Sveta and Dina were hitting together- they laughed about something all together and Maria started hitting. I noticed Maria biting her nails and laughed to myself. Luckily, I had made friends with Eddie, the security guard, earlier and was fortunate enough to have him bring my tennis ball to Maria to sign. She looked over when handed the ball and smiled a little- I could have died.
An hour or so after Maria practiced, Rafa was on Practice Court 5 (god, I wish Maria practiced there). But first, I met up with Courtney (aka @FortyDeuceTwits). We chatted and then I was off to Rafa. I had a nice spot, right next to where he was sitting. Muzz was hanging out too. Rafa signed my ball at the end of his practice through the fence (I was holding his hands, bandaged knuckles and all!). I ended my day watching Feli/Sam Q practice for a bit.
On Sunday I was on the grounds very shortly, but got Vika’s autograph and watched her practice with KBond. Vika was hitting beautifully-it’s a shame she got that concussion. Throughout her practice she threw the racket a few times, but afterwards was all smiles.
The first day I attended the US Open was Tuesday, for the day and night session. I started off watching Chardy/Gulbis. After a set, I moved on, caught Kiri practicing for a bit and then Maria (again). She was, as usual, on Practice Court 1. They had barricaded the place I was taking pictures at previously, so I was forced to shoot from very far away (I am getting a telephoto lens for next year!). Nando was on the court closest to me while Maria was practicing, too. After this, I went back to Chardy/Gulbis, where I saw Gulbis lose.
Next up was Yanina’s practice which I stayed at until I went to watch Vika practice. I got Vika’s autograph again (for my brother) and took a few pictures of Soderling (instead of trying to make my way through the mob). Later, I watched Nando briefly, struggling against Fognini.
My dad and I decided to head over to Novak/Troicki where the fifth set was starting. Novak’s comment about sleeping with his girlfriend had everyone laughing. Maria was out shortly after this. I was anxious but my dad was with me, so I kept cool. Until she lost the first set. I swear, everyone around me thought I was nuts. I was screaming “davai!” “come on!” “let’s go!” and talking to her like she could hear me. But she pulled through in three sets after nearly killing me. My adrenaline was so high after the match that I couldn’t eat. That night, the night session started close to 8 pm, where Rafa pulled through a long match and Caro a short one. We were at Ashe until 1 am!
On Thursday, I made my way to Flushing with two of my friends who had never been to the US Open. I brought them to Yanina’s match, in which we sat next to her coach and team. They were cheering loudly, and I was cheering with them. My friends wanted her autograph, so we all got her signature after a good match.
We then headed over to the Gasquet/Davydenko match. I told them that Gasquet was going to win (called it!). We stayed for a set but it was miserably hot in the sun at Grandstand so we left and headed to watch Kiri. When Kiri lost the first and was down 4-2 in the second, we all started to get nervous. I had been shouting ”davai” the whole match and we were all clapping quite loudly (Kiri definitely did a glance over to us). I even spotted Igor looking nervous in the stands. Kiri, however, made an awesome comeback.
During Kiri’s long match, I left twice to catch Maria on the practice courts while my friends held my seat. I knew Maria would be practicing, it was 2 hours before her scheduled 7 pm match. Maria was hitting with Michael Joyce, but soon after I got there, she made her way over to Martina Navratilova. Martina and her talked for a bit, laughed, and soon went to play. Martina was hitting lefty serves to Maria (which I slowly realized was to prepare for Benesova that night). After practicing, Maria came out to sign autographs- much to the crowd’s pleasure after Venus left them cold. I was trying to get a picture but my 5’1″ self had some difficulties.
During this time, I also got my pictures with Gilles, who was doing a signing at the ATP booth. Then, my friends and I went to Petko/Bethanie in the second set. I was rooting for Petko but we couldn’t stay long. Plus, Maria was starting in 10 minutes. We went to the food court where I listened to Maria through my American Express radio (not on the screen thanks to James Blake). I left the US Open knowing she was up 6-1 and doing fairly well.
Going on Friday with my dad seemed like a bummer-we were supposed to get hit by Hurricane Earl. We went to watch Ryan Harrison and 4 sets in, the rain began. We left the court (Harrison lost after blowing 3 MPs) and went over to Verdasco instead. I only stayed there briefly because Aga/Kiri were playing doubles against Oudin/Hampton. I think I was the only one on the crowd not rooting for the Americans. Aga got pissed about a line call and Kiri couldn’t keep a straight face while she yelled at the umpire. I left there a set in and watched Ana for a game or two.
I would definitely call my week a successful one. Tennis in New York is always great, even in the heat. I was covered in sweat everyday, but I enjoyed every second of it. I am psyched to bring my experience of the practice courts and everything else to the USO next year.
