Erudite Man R. and I were fortunate enough to be at the Dubai Tennis Championships 2008 last February. We both consider that tournament as historical in the sense that:
a.) it was one of the last few tournaments that Henin played and
b.) it was the first of many losses of Roger Federer after his defeat at the Australian Open semis — the first alarm that signaled the world number one’s increasing vulnerability this season
And we were fortunate to be there to witness it all.
It was also the first time I was going in a non-media capacity to a tennis tournament, and I must say, it was a good time to be a fan.
Aside from the fact that Roger and Rafa were there, the practice courts were open to the public, and the grounds were rife for autograph-hunting. In the week-long event, without even trying, we had managed to run into Dementieva, Lopez (dear Lord, those eyes!) and Haas on the grounds.
Spectators had to battle it out with the extremes of Dubai weather. During the day it would be unbearably hot, and the great seats were bare and exposed to the sun in a cloudless sky.
And when I say cloudless, I mean it — not a single cloud (I didn’t think it were possible when Karen Carpenter sang “not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eye…”). Every little thing reflected glare to our eyes so I, who never liked wearing sunglasses, learned not to take it off before sunset. Apparently, Dubai residents don’t wear them for fashion, but for survival.
When evening came, the wind picks up and turns the arid heat into unbelievable cold. My gauge is my stepfather: when a Scot starts to put on a sweater, you bet your sweet cheeks it’s cold.
Armed with umbrellas, jackets, liters of drinking water and snacks, dedicated fans like us would sit down in Center Court before the 1pm matches and pick out the good seats. And we won’t budge until the last match had been played.
Imagine our dismay and extreme disappointment when, before the night match between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, the tournament organizers forcibly moved us out of our seats to accommodate Roger’s entourage (Mirka, Tiger Woods’ wife and his two kids, Roger’s hitting partner — Roger didn’t have Higueras in his camp yet)!
Not only were we unjustly pushed out without warning, we were rudely treated. I went to complain to the tournament office only to find out that one of the rude men was actually the tournament organizer. We couldn’t do anything about it.
We ended up with not-so-bad seats, right behind Mirka and beside one of Tiger Woods’ kids. The British couple we were chatting with (who were also forced to move from their prime spot) politely asked Mirka if she would pose with them. Ms. Mirka Vavrinec didn’t even look at them, drawing jeers from a couple of fans (“Aw, she’s having none of it, man!”).
So as our revenge for her snobbery, we took this photo instead:
(Did I also mention she was clutching a big pack of Lindt Intense Orange chocolates the whole time she was watching?)
Out of spite, we decided not to cheer for Roger even though we preferred him to Andy Murray. I felt vindicated when, at the last point, we all jumped from our seats and cheered for Murray, preventing Mirka and entourage from a fast exit. (Let them squirm a bit.)
I still think that if we hadn’t been ejected from our seats so rudely, we would have sent enough positive vibes and cheers toward Roger for him to win the match, but that’s just me…
But our claim to fame is really this:
our photo as random tennis fans in the pages of Dubai’s GULF NEWS
Other highlights from Dubai Tennis Championships:
* watching Feliciano Lopez practice with Nikolay Davydenko. F-Lo is such an attention whore. Whenever ladies would stop to watch him practice, he looks to that direction and gives his best orgasmic grunts while hitting the ball back.
*Nikolay cracking up at F-Lo’s posturing during hitting practice
* watching a shirtless Tommy Haas practice
* Elena Dementieva’s practice; she can’t hit the ball without her usual yelping
* sitting in a doubles match with Rafael Nadal and F-Lo as partners
* Youzhny versus Santoro — Santoro at his Magician Best
* Erudite R. fearing for his life as an indignant Safina bashes her racket into the wall (near R.’s feet)
* Andy Roddick giving the Djoker a beatdown
* the Justine Henin – Katrina Srebotnik match — breathtaking display from both players who aren’t “tennis regulation size” players
* almost getting a second autograph from Rafa
(Rafa signed my tennis ball when I was covering the year-end Shanghai Masters series 2005; he took the ball, signed it and threw it back at me with a “catch!” expression. It was supposed to be amusing, until it hit me square in the stomach and winded me a bit. I didn’t stay long enough to see him laughing at me).
July 27, 2008...6:32 pm
delayed post: claim to fame and why i didn’t cheer for roger federer at the dubai tennis championships
Erudite Man R. and I were fortunate enough to be at the Dubai Tennis Championships 2008 last February. We both consider that tournament as historical in the sense that:
a.) it was one of the last few tournaments that Henin played and
b.) it was the first of many losses of Roger Federer after his defeat at the Australian Open semis — the first alarm that signaled the world number one’s increasing vulnerability this season
And we were fortunate to be there to witness it all.
It was also the first time I was going in a non-media capacity to a tennis tournament, and I must say, it was a good time to be a fan.
Aside from the fact that Roger and Rafa were there, the practice courts were open to the public, and the grounds were rife for autograph-hunting. In the week-long event, without even trying, we had managed to run into Dementieva, Lopez (dear Lord, those eyes!) and Haas on the grounds.
Spectators had to battle it out with the extremes of Dubai weather. During the day it would be unbearably hot, and the great seats were bare and exposed to the sun in a cloudless sky.
And when I say cloudless, I mean it — not a single cloud (I didn’t think it were possible when Karen Carpenter sang “not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eye…”). Every little thing reflected glare to our eyes so I, who never liked wearing sunglasses, learned not to take it off before sunset. Apparently, Dubai residents don’t wear them for fashion, but for survival.
When evening came, the wind picks up and turns the arid heat into unbelievable cold. My gauge is my stepfather: when a Scot starts to put on a sweater, you bet your sweet cheeks it’s cold.
Armed with umbrellas, jackets, liters of drinking water and snacks, dedicated fans like us would sit down in Center Court before the 1pm matches and pick out the good seats. And we won’t budge until the last match had been played.
Imagine our dismay and extreme disappointment when, before the night match between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, the tournament organizers forcibly moved us out of our seats to accommodate Roger’s entourage (Mirka, Tiger Woods’ wife and his two kids, Roger’s hitting partner — Roger didn’t have Higueras in his camp yet)!
Not only were we unjustly pushed out without warning, we were rudely treated. I went to complain to the tournament office only to find out that one of the rude men was actually the tournament organizer. We couldn’t do anything about it.
We ended up with not-so-bad seats, right behind Mirka and beside one of Tiger Woods’ kids. The British couple we were chatting with (who were also forced to move from their prime spot) politely asked Mirka if she would pose with them. Ms. Mirka Vavrinec didn’t even look at them, drawing jeers from a couple of fans (“Aw, she’s having none of it, man!”).
So as our revenge for her snobbery, we took this photo instead:
(Did I also mention she was clutching a big pack of Lindt Intense Orange chocolates the whole time she was watching?)
Out of spite, we decided not to cheer for Roger even though we preferred him to Andy Murray. I felt vindicated when, at the last point, we all jumped from our seats and cheered for Murray, preventing Mirka and entourage from a fast exit. (Let them squirm a bit.)
I still think that if we hadn’t been ejected from our seats so rudely, we would have sent enough positive vibes and cheers toward Roger for him to win the match, but that’s just me…
But our claim to fame is really this:
our photo as random tennis fans in the pages of Dubai’s GULF NEWS
Other highlights from Dubai Tennis Championships:
* watching Feliciano Lopez practice with Nikolay Davydenko. F-Lo is such an attention whore. Whenever ladies would stop to watch him practice, he looks to that direction and gives his best orgasmic grunts while hitting the ball back.
*Nikolay cracking up at F-Lo’s posturing during hitting practice
* watching a shirtless Tommy Haas practice
* Elena Dementieva’s practice; she can’t hit the ball without her usual yelping
* sitting in a doubles match with Rafael Nadal and F-Lo as partners
* Youzhny versus Santoro — Santoro at his Magician Best
* Erudite R. fearing for his life as an indignant Safina bashes her racket into the wall (near R.’s feet)
* Andy Roddick giving the Djoker a beatdown
* the Justine Henin – Katrina Srebotnik match — breathtaking display from both players who aren’t “tennis regulation size” players
* almost getting a second autograph from Rafa
(Rafa signed my tennis ball when I was covering the year-end Shanghai Masters series 2005; he took the ball, signed it and threw it back at me with a “catch!” expression. It was supposed to be amusing, until it hit me square in the stomach and winded me a bit. I didn’t stay long enough to see him laughing at me).
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