9/5/07

Photos and notes from the US Open


Spend a few days at the US Open, took a few photos and noted a few things:
- The 7 train, although often packed, is the best way to get to the US Open. Lots of people will converse in foreign languages which led to me unfortunately eavesdropping on this funny French conversation:
(French girl to her sister): "M...Je crois que je me suis assise sur la veste du monsieur" ( S...I think I sat down on this guy's jacket. Note: The guy was me).
Sister replies: " Ben, excuse toi et retire le pan de veste de dessous tes fesses" (Excuse yourself and remove the pan of the jacket from under your bottom)
F.G: " Oui mais c'est la honte, en plus je ne vais pas le deranger, il est entrain de lire, peut-etre qu'il ne s'est pas rendu compte et avec un peu de chance, on sortira avant lui."
( yes but I am embarassed; plus he is reading and I don't want to bother him. Maybe he did not notice and with any luck, we will get out before him.)

We all got out at the same station. I had a hard time keeping a straight face during the whole conversation, thankfully I was at comics section of the paper. I smiled at them as we were leaving for the tennis court and wished them a grand time at the US Open...in French.

- Spend some times on the annex courts where if you are lucky you can get real close to the players. Here I took picture with Natalie Dechy and saw up close that Guga Kuerten is ready for a come back. Guga's girlfriends seem to think so too.




- Got to watch James Blake battle Koubek court side in the evening session. There is no way to describe the experience. The atmosphere was electric, the action was splendid and the crowd was as raucous as ever. Beyond the obvious skin color similarities, Blake could well be the Barack Obama of Tennis. Engaging personalities, soft-spoken but determined, committed to their work and passionate supporters. One shirtless man was heard yelling: " If you don't believe in James Blake, you don't believe in anything !"
Hopefully, Obama will have a better finish to his own version of the US Open.


- A funny thing happened in the men's restrooms (nothing involving a senator though).
I was going to take care of business when I heard a phone ring then a voice from the neighboring stool: "Yes honey, I am at the US Open. The game lasted longer than expected. Love you, bye" and then he flushed. I went to wash my hands when Mr "I-answer-my-cell-phone-while-I-go-#1" came out, trotting along the walk of shame as if nothing happened. I made a metal note to myself t never again borrow another man's cellphone.
- When you think you've seen everything from Federer, think again. If you like tennis, there is no reason to not try to catch this guy playing while he you can. Plus he genuinely seems like a class act.

-Speaking of class act, why is it so difficult for Serena Williams to just once admit that her opponent might also know how to play tennis ? The whole "she-did-not-win-I-lost" act is truly tiring. I don't even like Justine Henin but Serena makes her look like an innocent teddy bear. And we know from watching Blake, Federer and Graf that you do not have to have a mean streak ( I will not use the a..word ) or an over-inflated ego to be successful.

-I was looking for a Malagasy name in the Junior's draw...Alas, nothing to show for it. Maybe next year....

16 comments:

  1. and this is how Mister L. is spending his last days of summer...
    flirting with french girls and cheerleading on Federer's match..
    pffff
    feeling so jalous right now...

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  2. ahahaha ptdr l'épisode en français dans le texte.
    Bah on prend du bon temps cousin :)
    T'as raison.
    Bonne journée !

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  3. hahaha...those girls must have been so shocked when you spoke to them in French!

    Sounds like you had a fantastic time there Lova. I'm going for the evening session tonight to watch Moya fight it out in the quarters.

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  4. @Jo, you should have seen my cheerleading outfit, paillette et pom-pom :)
    @Vola,
    Hakuna matata :)
    @ amrita,
    I did and I am sure you will too. I have a rooting interest for Djokovic though but Moya is a doll ( according to the ladies I know).

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  5. Anonymous9:56 AM

    Here I am slaving away at work while you get to watch Federer and Blake. I'm jealous, jealous and jealous. Thanks for the post I had fun reading it. Have fun yourself!
    Do they play tennis in Nepal ? :-)

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  6. @sipakv,
    wish I could have stayed a bit longer for sure but now it's my turn to slave away... everything has a price hey :) ?

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  7. Great pictures and Nice post :) Lucky Lova :) j'ai eu la banane tout au long du post :) je crois que nous sommes pret pour bloguer "officiellement" le word cup de foot en 2010 matey :D

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  8. WCup 2010 we rock!!!
    ok guyz I HAD A BLAAAAAAAST tonight!!!
    Loved the spirit
    I'm writing the post right now...so ashamed I didn't wait til amirata sign autographs...couldn't play my groupie stunts....you know the ones hjk did when he met coelho or when lova was in the same roome w/ angelique kidjo...
    But I did my best to take notes, pictures, lousy podcasts and smiiiiiiiile during 3 hours,....she must had thought I was dumb or something...


    bizzzz

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  9. Anonymous4:37 AM

    Good point about Serena.

    And yes, I would love to see Federer live. I've seen Agassi and it was unbeleviable.

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  10. @Hjk,
    we might just have to do that :)
    @Jo,
    I am heading over to your place
    @Tomaz,
    your website is a must-read for any tennis fans. The 1st 2 sets of Federer vs Roddick were absolutely outstanding. I wish it went 5 sets...

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  11. Anonymous11:17 AM

    Question à 2 pixels: ça s'est passé où l'US Open? Ca donne envie de se remettre au tennis en tout cas!
    Elle est belle ta photo du globe/Africa. :)

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  12. @ tattum,

    US Open est a Queens, NY. La photo du globe avec Mada :), c'est le globe ou Will Smith et Tommy L Jones font crasher les aliens de Men In Black :). Tout le monde s'en fout mais je suis un peu geeky alors ce genre de truc, ca m'amuse :).

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  13. here come the MIB lal lalalala...
    après un très méritant GNU (girls night out) j'ai enfin pu poster MA AMIRATA, ok hjk va s'en doute le dire je préfère l'avouer là tout de suite (c la semaine des aveux) J,ai passé la journée à écouter ses passages à la radio et tv de montreal...man.....mon obsession pr AJ et BP semble passé vers elle....naaaaaannnn un peu qd mm...et l'autre qui me sort " ton retour sur mada va se faire plus vite ke prévu si tu as sniffé du amirata traoré"......ouhh lalalalla peur panique je suis pas prête mais motivée!!


    OT
    Aj is in NY right now...you missed those important moments...

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  14. loooooooooooooova what happened to britney!?????
    I feel so ....desperate.......got great expectations.....I don't feel like expetacting anymore.....the sound was great though....soupir....

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  15. @Jo,

    Please fill me in, Jo. I have no idea what happended because I could not watch the thing. I was not at home :(.

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  16. no lova...i once was a huuuuge britney fan (yes it's true, i may seem smart and all but I'm still a groupie...lol I,m not smart...)
    well...VMAs were ok, britney had the worse performance ever, as if she forgot to take a smtg...seriously in 2001 I was WOWOWOW (you remember w/ the snake and all the Im a sllaaaave....)
    Sarah Silverman was so mean, we even felt like Brit Brit deserved 500 times the jokes

    Perez is having the time of his life...http://perezhilton.com/


    pffff

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