Reviewing My Five Day Journey at the 2015 Miami Open

Hello guys, I am very excited to write about and share with you my experience at this year’s Miami Open, a tournament I attended for the first time. As far as other tournaments go, I have only been to the Western and Southern Open located in Cincinnati in the past, 2013 and 2014 and those were amazing experiences. Now, towards the end of 2014 I strongly started to consider going to the Miami Open because I always like to try new things and I knew it would be another great experience if I could go because tennis is amazing in person. This wasn’t the first year I considered it either because this event is at a perfect time every year and the location is very good for me. It’s always during my birthday at some point, and I always figured it’d be fun to spend a birthday at a huge sporting event, particularly my favorite sport. I also have relatives in Florida that don’t live very far away from it, and lo and behold this was the year I finally made it happen.

I want to try to write some pros and cons about this event and perhaps compare some of them to Cincy because some there were a few things that stood out.

PROS:

• Grounds: One of the first things you realize as you start to get familiar with the grounds is how controlled and open it really is. What I mean is no matter how crowded it got, it seemed there was never any trouble getting around or getting too hectic at any point; it wasn’t really hard to find anything either. I was also especially surprised how there were never any huge lines for food stands or bathrooms, ever! Like in Cincy it seemed to me you were always standing in huge lines for like 15-20 mins, and here I could just walk right up to anything even during the crowded days.

• Stadium/Match Atmosphere: For those who have gone to a live event, you know it’s important to have good crowds to enhance the matches. I was only there for the first week so the crowds were a little sparser than normal but still it seemed the crowds were always pretty good. The stadium is really nice even if I was up top but I got to sit lower than my assigned seats every day because there wasn’t a whole lot of people there and I loved my seats. At nighttime too it’s hard to beat it, especially during that Sharapova match was probably the best match I saw with the crowd into it. It was also nice to be able to walk into any court on the grounds and watch any match I wanted and get really close, obviously closer than you get in the stadium. I prefer seeing outer court matches because of that reason but stadium can get you some great ones too which I saw. My favorite match I went to was Simo’s match which I got into a little more detail later. Aside from her I would say Sharapova’s match, Stan’s match and Delpo’s match were ones I really enjoyed.

• Player experience: The whole fun of going to tennis events is seeing how close you can get to the players and in Cincy it was very easy to be able to see them up close during practice. Here was the same thing as you could sit right on the practice courts and get really close which is always nice to enjoy.

There was something else about that though that I thought was even cooler. It literally seemed like you could not go very long without spotting a player walking around on the grounds where all of the fans were, and a lot of times they went unnoticed by many, even some of the bigger ones. I’m talking they would just stroll through the food court area because it was set up where they had to go through there to get to some of the practice courts and it was fun to just see them blend in with the others. I would catch myself being able to walk casually right behind a top player and it was just cool to me. Now I’m not one of those people who feel the need to approach them all of the time for autographs because a lot of times you see them walking to practice and that’s not the best time. You just have to be able to pick the right time, like after, and most of them are very friendly. I feel in Cincy I didn’t really bump into as many players, and even if I did, it was so crowded at times you couldn’t really get that close. Maybe it’s just me.

• Fan Events: There were two big events I wondered how easy it would be to access and they were the draw ceremonies and media day. Both passed my expectations with flying colors. The draw ceremonies were Monday and because there weren’t many people there for the first day of only qualifying, it was easy to get right up there and watch them do both draws and get close to the players helping too. The ATP one did get a bit jammed at one point, probably because nobody knew it as the WTA one got leaked the day before, but nothing I couldn’t handle since I was in the front anyway. I never saw a draw made live before so that was neat to get to share some of it first with you all.

• Fan Events cont: The next day they had media day with all of the top players and this was really cool to experience as well. I came into this expecting there to be a mob scene filled with fans because a lot of the top players were going to be there. Surprisingly, that didn’t come to fruition as I was able to stand pretty much anywhere I wanted at least where we were allowed, and take pics of all the big names. I don’t even think most knew where this was as it was kind of hidden in the far back away from everything. It was especially fun as you all know by now how close how I could get to Simo and from what I saw throughout the day, as usual she drew the least amount of attention from the fans which was ok with me 😉 And I’m sure everyone saw me appear in the background of a lot of photos Simo was in so you kind of knew what it was like for me to stand that close. I mean it’s kind of hard to explain what it’s like when you’re inches away from a fave, especially for a decent amount of time. I just stared and admired Simo and enjoyed her in all of her cuteness glory. She also doesn’t seem as short as you might think in person, to me at least. She’s just so friendly too like there was just mainly kids there besides me because it was kids day, and when she signed for all of them she was asking them questions like “do you guys play tennis? What are some of your favorite players?” This one I liked too: “Did you guys watch me at Indian Wells? Did you like?” Too funny.

• Concessions: Now I’m not one of those people that go to events like these to taste all of the food they have because I just like to get whatever I’m feeling, so I didn’t really try a ton of different things. However, I must say everything I had was great, so if you were curious about that, don’t worry because it was good. The Pinto burger and crepes were some of the foods that stood out to me, and the Michelob Ultra bar was a fun time. Nothing out of control there though 😉 Like I said before, the lines were always short, and there was always places to sit too which was nice.

• Friendly People: I was happy to see how many friendly and generous people there were here in Miami, and I really emphasize the latter in a moment. For me it was fun because there were a lot of casual fans there as you would expect and I was asked many times who a certain player was that walked by and practiced and I was always happy to answer. Everybody would say how they were glad to have me around because I knew virtually everyone and that made me feel kind of important for at least this week 🙂 It was fun having chats with everyone about their different autograph and pic stories with their fave players and I just never had any problems with the other fans around me.

Two fan stories I want to share with you; one you most likely already knew but a little more in depth, and another you didn’t. Suspense….

So both happened on the last day of the trip and the first one was at the beginning and it’s about my experience watching Simo’s 2^nd round match on stadium court. Well you already know by now how fun it was for me to watch her play because she doesn’t disappoint, but the crowd made it that much better for me. I discovered a couple of fans with a Romanian flag actually a few seats next to me so I approached them and asked if I could take a pic with them because I always wanted to meet Romanians in real life because of how passionate they are about Simo. They then let me hold the flag and pose for a pic with it and that was pretty neat to me because I obviously never held that flag before and I felt a tiny bit Romanian lol. We had a little conversation and they noticed my shirt and knew I was a big fan too and there was a really funny thing they asked me I just loved. First they asked, “Are you from Romania?” I said no, from here in the United States” and they go, “Wow and you still love Simona that much?” I just laughed because it’s funny how it might not seem Simo can have diehard fans from the U.S. but yeah it’s true.

They didn’t mind me sitting with them after that and boy did that turn into a blast, because much more Romanians than just those two showed up and I swear whenever she hit a good shot or needed some extra encouragement, the SI-MO-NA chants were in full swing and I loved doing them too. I tweeted I was able to cross that off of my bucket list and I just really enjoyed it because it was different. You know in team sports when you’re at an event you have thousands of other fans on the same side as you. Well tennis it’s obviously not like that where people don’t have jerseys and don’t cheer hardcore for only one player but for Romanian fans that’s exactly how it is. I always wanted to have another hardcore group to cheer with because it’s more fun when I’m not alone and this gave me that and I just embraced every moment.

Ok so this next story I never told you guys because it was actually quite frightening. It’s not life or death don’t worry but it certainly wasn’t good. First try to think of the worst thing that can happen at an event like this that doesn’t involve physical harm or anything dangerous like that? If you guessed losing something valuable, then good for you. Yep that’s what happened to me, at some point I realized I dropped my wallet which had literally everything you could think of in there and a little too much cash to go along with it (thousands….) well it’s a big sporting event you tend to carry around a little more than usual. This being on the last day of the trip near the end of the day it wasn’t easy to stay calm because it’s kind of hard to fly home without an id. Anyway, saving all of the dramatics, someone returned it with everything still in it. Trust me they don’t have to return anything if no one knows, or they could’ve taken it all and then returned it. I said earlier I really emphasized the generous part of the people there and I’m just thankful the trip didn’t end on that sour note.

CONS:

It’s hard to pick out cons at a great event like this, but there were a couple of things that really stood out that were a bit annoying. Now I’m just comparing these to Cincy, so maybe this could be similar to other tournaments too I don’t know.

• Practice Schedules: Most who have been to a live event know how critical knowing the practice schedules is because it’s another chance to see the players up close. Now I’m saying this because in Cincy it was nice because every morning I could wake up and check online and the whole schedule was up there and I can plan every single thing I want to do that day. Well here in Miami, that wasn’t the case at all. Maybe it’s not as a big of a deal as I’m making it but it’s just annoying that you have to guess what time to leave that day and who is gonna practice early in the morning and hope you don’t miss someone you want to see, in case you don’t arrive right when the gates open (which happened most days for me because the traffic wasn’t too good, more on that soon) Because chances are they won’t practice again that day. 

So another thing, it really wasn’t that long after they opened the gates that they released the practice schedule, it’s just for the first couple of practices you had to walk all around the grounds to see who was out there. So if you decide to stay on a court and watch a practice, you risk missing someone else you might really want to see that’s practicing at the same time without having any idea. Once they got it out however, they would post it at a guest services stand and there was only one copy, you couldn’t take a paper copy or get it on your phone until later; and the guest services was pretty far away from the practice courts so you had to take pics of the schedule which was kind of annoying too. That explains the problem I had with one of Simo’s practices and how I almost missed it because of the weird system they have.

• Simo’s Sneakiness: Ok so if you don’t care about Simo, or already heard this story, then skip this part. I thought since I just brought it up again I’d either refresh your memory in case you wanted to hear it again, and here I can explain it in more detail, or tell people who hadn’t heard it yet. It’s not really a con, it’s just that I had to work harder than I expected to and it was a bit of a hassle lol but at least it was worth it.

I arrived to the grounds close to 10 as usual because that’s when they open the gates. Another thing that wasn’t surprising, no practice schedule available yet. So I do what I normally do and walk to some of the practice courts, and these are the ones that are farthest away from where they post the schedule, keep that in mind for later. I spot Sabine practicing on one and thought that was a good place to start because lots of people enjoying seeing pics of her and I like to watch her practice too. So as I’m watching and taking pics of her, quick funny thing happened I tweeted where Vika said “excuse me” to me from behind because she needed to open the gate to get into another practice court. I was taken aback a bit lol because she was right there without warning and I’m just like ok yeah of course. Anyway, so I’m watching Sabine and Vika for about the whole hour since that’s how long the practices usually are, and I get a text at about 10:55 of a photo of the practice schedule that just came out.

I look at it and see Simo on the schedule at 10 and insert all of the obscenities here because it’s frustrating that the player I want to see most is practicing and I don’t have a clue. So at this point I’m pretty bummed out because I know this is the last day I’ll have a chance to see her practice since the practice would probably be too early to see on match day. I couldn’t see which court she was supposed to be on because it was like cutoff from the pic or something so that added even more chaos. The person that texted me it wasn’t near the guest services stand anymore so I literally ran all the way over there, it’s far I tell you. I’m just hoping I can at least catch her walking out and get an auto or pic or something to salvage it. I make it to the schedule, turns out Simo was practicing on the court right behind where I was sobbb! So if I had just walked around quick while I was watching Sabine/Vika I would’ve saved all of that running, but obviously there was no way I could’ve known she was there and no time to check. Plus, there are courts kind of close to the GS stand as well so I thought she could be there too.

So now that I know she is on the court behind the one I was just at, I run all the way back to it, and she’s not there of course; probably because it’s past 11. At this point I really don’t know what to do because she could’ve left and that’s it I missed it, can’t do much about it. I start to walk back to other practice courts again and lo and behold I see a tiny girl with a bun hairstyle, in a pink shirt with a big bag come around the corner and I had to do like a double take to make sure it was her and it was! I didn’t quite know where she was going though because she wasn’t walking to a court that top players practice on, I followed her and turns out she was just starting a practice. So not only did she practice at a different time, she also practiced on a court that wasn’t listed on the practice schedule! So sneaky! I was very lucky to catch her and thanks to my detective work, you guys saw extra pictures, and I got another selfie and she signed my shirt which I always wanted. Plus she liked it too so everything worked out amazingly!

So that’s my story, sorry it was so long. BUT THIS IS WHAT DIEHARD FANS DO!! I DID IT FOR YOU GUYS TOO!! Hope you enjoyed that story in a little more detail 🙂

• Traffic/Parking: This one wasn’t a huge issue for the most part, there was just times and specifically one time, where it was a bit confusing. The first day we went, on the way there they had signs posted all over saying general parking and what not so we pulled in there. The first time there was like a police guy that said “no this isn’t it, go to Lot 5 farther back from this.” So we did and that’s like some random dead end place with a loading dock boat area it was very strange. So we’re confused, we ended up driving way further up and there was a lot 2,3,4,6,7 and there wasn’t really one where everyone was pulling into. So we basically just went into one until it was the right one which you’d think is a little absurd to have to do but whatever, we eventually found it. The rest of the days it wasn’t that hard but still it could be better set up. They also have a shuttle going to the park for some lots and that’s a bit annoying too but whatever lol this isn’t that important but I’m just telling you another con that I didn’t really like. In Cincy it was very straight forward where you parked, signs everywhere and they just put you in the grass and you walked up into the place.

Last but not least the traffic was pretty brutal in the morning in Miami like you’d expect though because it’s a big city and it’s rush hour early in the morning on weekdays. The only problem with this is that it delayed us getting there and it caused us to miss a bigger portion of practices than I wanted. All in all though, you just have to accept it and as long as we got there I didn’t complain.

So that’s it. Sorry if it seems a little long, not sure how much you guys read but I wanted to make sure you got as much of the experience as possible in case you were ever thinking of going here. The cons aren’t really a big issue, I easily found ways to live with them so don’t worry too much about them. This is a great place and I didn’t know what to expect but it definitely did not disappoint and I would recommend this to everyone. I got lucky with the weather too as besides the very last portion of my trip, it was nice and sunny all week which always make these kind of events way better. One last thing, as weird as it sounds, I didn’t really notice too much that my number 1 faves from ATP and WTA (Roger Federer and Petra Kvitova) weren’t there because of how fun the whole week was. I got dealt with some very unlucky cards in that regard but it just goes to show favorites aren’t everything in tennis. As long as you love watching the sport, you can easily learn to adjust and while I obviously wish they were both there, that’s how it goes sometimes and I’m glad it didn’t affect me at all during the week, considering I thought it might. (Now if Simo wasn’t there…. We’d have to see how calm this paragraph would be lol)

Have a great day, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed. Also thanks again to all of you on Twitter who made this fun for me to share all of the info and photos as it was happening. I was very happy to do it, it was a unique experience for me and i’m glad you all liked what I had to say. If you have any other questions about my experience, just let me know 🙂 Jake

My 2019 US Open Experience

Hello everyone! I am happy to share with you my 2019 US Open experience, which was also my first ever grand slam that I’ve attended and although it was very brief (2 and a half days) it was something i’ll cherish forever. Over the course of this article i’ll write about many different things and to make it easier for you folks in case there is something in particular you’re wondering about, I will provide a table of contents of what I plan to include in this article. It also will help if you don’t want to read the whole thing which probably will be long.

Access to the grounds
Crowd
Courts
Food/Drinks/Shopping
Kvitalep Absence
Elina Svitolina (why does she have a chapter??)
Favorite Matches I watched
Regrets
Overall Experience

Access to the grounds

So let’s dive into this shall we? Now obviously this is all from my perspective, people reading this that have already gone or who will go will likely have different perspectives so I just hope this helps a little bit at least. I stayed at a hotel that was only a mile away from the stadium so I was able to walk there and back every day. It may not be that easy for other people so my fair warning would be if possible take the Subway because they have a stop that goes right to it. (7 to Mets-Willet Point) It’s not the most pleasant experience but hey it was a first for me so it’s worth a shot if you haven’t tried it before. It’s also free so there’s that (well you’ll need a little card I guess so technically not) but better than a $60 dollar uber everywhere you go. Yes, that was brutal. I won’t even get into New York drivers either. That’s a whooooole separate article. Bottomline: subway. Boom you’re there.

Crowd

I always knew there would be a massive crowd attending this event as they do every year, but I just have to say that I could never have quite prepared myself to face the crowd I walked through this weekend. I felt it immediately as I walked in you’re swept into a sea of people wandering trying to find their next destination on the grounds. Every tournament I have been to before I never had a real problem getting around or feeling cramped up against people, even Cincinnati and Miami which are definitely events that host a lot of people. But here, the main thing is you just have to be patient. They are EVERYWHERE. It will take awhile to get around the grounds no matter how fast you want to go or how much you try to weave through people. The worst example is after a match on Arthur Ashe stadium and you want to get out of there back onto the grounds… it’s a massive logjam where it’s basically standstill human traffic for about 15-20 minutes before you get out. That is if you aren’t close to the exit which I wasn’t. You have a huge group exiting and then another decent size group entering and it’s a mess. Again, if you’re not patient it’s big trouble for you.

Now, another part about the crowds I want to quick mention which i’m sure a lot of you have heard by now is during the matches especially at AA stadium but at Louis Armstrong too. They talk a lot. You cannot avoid it, you just can’t. It feels at times like you’re at a baseball game where there is constant chattering during the games. I mean it didn’t hinder my experience but it’s not exactly tennis etiquette you may be used to. Also for AA, people in the way up top sections are free to move around whenever so you know… they don’t exactly stay still. Up and down up and down. Get used to it. Ok let me say a positive about the crowd. When you’re in AA and it’s a great match, the crowd is absolutely electric and it’s something I never experienced before and it felt unbelievable to be in there. Those are the kind of crowds you want to be a part of for a tennis match.

Courts

This part won’t be as detailed as I would like since I didn’t really spend a whole lot of time on any particular court and/or didn’t see all of the courts in full. I can still describe the ones I went to and a basic description of the grounds. When you walk in Louis Armstrong is the first court you set your eyes upon so let’s start there. I am not used to a secondary court being so big. It felt like a main stadium court and i’m sure that’s the purpose of it in the first place. Even if it’s big, there isn’t a bad seat in the house and I think if I would’ve been able to sit closer this would’ve been my favorite court. I wasn’t exactly aware upon being here that Louis Armstrong features two seating sections; one is general admission where it’s first come first serve but you’re high up there and best case it’s still not particularly close. It can even be way way up there if it gets really crowded. I wasn’t there for when Coco Gauff played there but she filled up that stadium to its capacity which is very rare. Anyway, if you get reserved tickets you can get right on courtside level and that is one thing I may look into the next time I go because this court always features big name players and seeing them very close on such a big court would be amazing.

It’s only right that we talk about the granddaddy of them all and that is Arthur Ashe stadium. Once you turn the corner after seeing Armstrong, you run into AA although it’s impossible to miss wherever you are on the grounds or even if you’re not on the grounds. From the outside it’s majestic the way it’s built, but being inside is on a level that is everything I ever wanted it to be. I was near the very top but it didn’t affect my love of it one bit. If you followed my journey in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, you were probably aware of how I fell in love with a particular spot to view matches and that was on a balcony that was as high as you could go in the entire grounds. You could watch the stadium matches (and overlook the entire grounds for that matter) without being in the stadium but it felt like you were in it if you know what I mean. Well, I said to myself this is probably what AA seating will be like and lo and behold… yep. To a tee that’s what it felt like so naturally I loved every minute of it. If you aren’t a huge fan of being very far from the action then maybe it won’t be your favorite spot but for me, it’s perfect.

Considering I spent most of my time on those two feature courts, I can’t go into extreme detail like I said before about the other courts. I never went on grandstand which is another one of the bigger courts, but I did watch about a set and a half on court 17 which is a famously popular court. Think of grandstand in Cincinnati where you can be right on top of the action and that’s exactly what this court is. Even with a very limited amount of time on it, I can say that this court is my favorite. I would’ve loved to see more on it but it just didn’t happen. If you get one of your favorites on this one you are a lucky fan.

One last thing i’ll talk about in this section is the practice courts and I spent barely any time on them because I wanted to see as many matches as possible and none of my favorites were there practicing so I felt I didn’t NEED to see anyone practice. But, they are aligned all next to each other one by one and then there is a bleacher section behind all of them to watch the different practices all at once. It can be nice if you don’t mind who you’re seeing but if there’s a particular player you want to see, make sure you get a nice spot directly behind the court they’re on if possible. How it works is that once you enter the practice courts there is like an underground type area that is fenced where you can stand and watch the practices from ground level and people walk around from court to court. Then there are sets of stairs that lead up to the bleachers where you sit and watch the practices. Or stand if it’s too crowded and no seats are available. So take your pick which option you prefer and a picture of a view from underneath the bleachers is below. As far as getting autographs and selfies go, I don’t know if it’s easy to get them or where a prime spot might be. I mean it felt like it would’ve been hard to get anything because you’re either high up or behind a fence but there may be a spot that i’m not aware of.

Food/Drinks/Shopping

First things first, the main thing here is you don’t want to get too much food or drinks here as you know how sporting events prices are crazy expensive and here is no different. I got no food at all here and maybe I should’ve because there were a few places that looked interesting. So sadly I cannot recommend any food options. I did get ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s once but we all know what that is, it’s great don’t get me wrong but it’s not a US Open specialty. Speaking of specialties… the one item I will recommend is the famous Honey Deuce and I kept hearing the hype and it’s worth it. Even the hefty price tag of $18 is worth it. It makes you feel like you’re kind of fancy and enjoying the US Open to the fullest and hey you get a nice souvenir cup to keep too so at least get one for that if nothing else. Yes it tasted fantastic too.

As for shopping, they have plenty of options to get your souvenirs. There are at least four big US Open shops  that I spotted with plenty of gear to enjoy ranging anywhere from a T-Shirt, to towels, to a nice looking embroidered pillow. There was also a  little Wilson store and an Adidas store with Louis Armstrong sandwiched right in the middle of the two. The only thing missing was a Nike store which was I would’ve hoped for most since my favorites are both Nike. Maybe next year! So the bottom line here is to expect a lot of options as long as you don’t mind spending a bit and above all try the Honey Deuce!

Kvitalep Absence

Ahhh yes this is absolutely something that needed to be included because I felt it dearly. Let me tell you a fact that I’m still processing. This tournament was my 14th that I’ve attended in my life. The first one was in 2013 in Cincinnati. For the FIRST time, I didn’t see Petra Kvitova or Simo Halep once at any time whether it be a practice or a match. I thought that might be the case in Cincy earlier this year but turns out they both stuck around after they lost their matches to practice some more while I was there so I survived. Not this time. I mean you think maybe it’s not that notable but for me it’s not as easy as you think to always know you’re going to see your favorites at any given event. For six straight years and 14 straight events for that matter.  This was a hell of a streak and it was especially tough for it to end at my first grand slam. I don’t care if this was a slam or not, I can safely say that this experience was not the same without them.

The last two events that I’ve been to where I didn’t get to see either of them play a match kind of gave me a preview what it will be like when they eventually retire. I absolutely love attending events. I love tennis. But I especially love the feeling of going to the grounds wearing kvitalep gear and stressing about their match and fistpumping like crazy and yelling in the hopes of seeing them win. I really really missed that here. I do like watching matches as a neutral fan too but there is nothing like watching your favorites live. So still unchecked on my bucket list… watching kvitalep live at a grand slam.

Elina Svitolina

The chapter I never thought would be included in an article like this but here we are. I didn’t have Kvitalep and it made me think, “I should try to find one player to connect with and root for during my stay here” It just so happened that she was involved in my first ever live grand slam match that I attended. Well, that’s certainly a great start isn’t it for a connection! She dominated that match and I thought right then, wouldn’t it be cool if she won the whole damn thing? Some of my fellow Simo fans may come after me for this but at first I was neutral about her but she’s really grown on me lately. I appreciate the battles she’s had with Simo over the years (especially grateful for this years Wimbledon SF result too) and she seems really nice and friendly and I like watching her play. I won’t ever be a hardcore fan of course but i’m just saying it was nice to have some sort of connection. I also saw her beat Madison Keys on my final night so she was the first and last woman I watched play and the only player I saw win two times. Maybe I needed to be there for the match against Serena who knows! I feel she’ll still get a chance in a slam final sooner rather than later.

Favorite Matches I Watched

This one is easy but hard at the same time. One match will stand out but I didn’t see that many matches because I wasn’t there very long so I don’t have a ton of options if you know what I mean. My favorite match that I watched had to be Stan Wawrinka defeating Novak Djokovic on Arthur Ashe as my final match of the tournament. Stan is my next ATP favorite after Roger so this was incredibly satisfying. Both Players were hitting incredible and the crowd was electric. There were times I thought Novak might find a way to win a set but Stan did what he’s done in previous matches against him and refused to back down and just outhit him. Everything about it was fantastic, except the ending. I loved the crowd until the moment they started booing Novak off the court and then I hated them. I will never understand that because the guy gave it his best and played until he knew he couldn’t. A champion like that would not just quit like that especially in a slam where the stakes are highest unless he was in a situation where continuing to play would only make things a lot worse. I am not his fan by any means but I respect him and he deserved a lot better. End of rant. The match was terrific.

Of course I have to mention seeing Roger Federer for the first time at a grand slam live. I have seen him play a good amount of times before and won’t go into extreme detail here but seeing him at this stage and this stadium was something I didn’t know I was going to be able to do before he retired but I’m really glad I did. The fact that the match was extremely short for a best of 5 set match could be part of the regrets section but hey, it’s not like that’s in my control, and a win is a win! Whether it was a 3 hour match or a 1 hour match, it’s another experience that I’ll never forget.

As for the ladies side, I didn’t see a lot and none really stand out. Svitolina beating Keys was a good one and I also enjoyed watching Donna Vekic play on court 17. My favorite moment though was after Naomi Osaka defeated Coco Gauff and encouraged Coco to do the on court interview with her. It was hard what to see what was going on at first when from way up all I could see was them talking and that was nice but then we could see what was happening next when Coco looked ready to talk even after a loss. It’s what the WTA needs and why tennis is such an amazing sport. The crowd really got behind both players and I’m glad I was there to see it.

Regrets

This part is basically about the things I wanted to do or hoped to see but either didn’t happen or I didn’t have time for it. The first thing was seeing a match under one of the roofs at either Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong. I never have seen a match under a roof live before and was really curious how it would differ from an outside match in temperature, crowd noise, etc. I mean it’s not like I wanted it to rain too much but at the same time I guess I did! Just for one match or so. It rained the whole entire day two days before I got there and of course the day after I left. It also would’ve felt nice having to something to watch while it’s raining unlike when i’m at Cincy or Miami where it pours for hours and then you’re stuck there taking cover and waiting for it to clear. It’s the worst part about any live tennis event.

Another regret was not watching more junior matches. I was looking forward to that since that’s another thing I never got to do before. But there was just no time and I knew that likely was going to be the case. You want to see the pros and when you’re only there a few days it’s hard to squeeze in juniors and I just didn’t do it. I saw a few games of the top girls seed Emma Navarro but that was it. They played right behind the practice courts there was a walkway between them which was nice. If i’m there longer I will do more of that next time.

One last regret (but again something out of my control) was not being able to see a five set match. You always see those thrillers on TV and think wouldn’t it be cool to be apart of that? I thought I might when I watched Daniil Medvedev beat Feliciano Lopez on my first night there since it went back and forth. I guess it was the next best thing as it was filled with constant drama and was the very beginning of the Medvedev show. It was still interesting to try a best of five for the first time regardless.

Overall Experience

If you’re still reading at this point, thank you. I told myself no matter what even if I don’t like the US Open at least I could say I experienced a grand slam. I loved it. Once you get past the crowd factor and the massive swarm of people everywhere it’s a terrific experience. I still need even more time to get the full experience but it’s a start and there’s so much already I can take from it. I am here to recommend this tournament because the views are amazing, the Honey Deuce is amazing, and if you love tennis you’ll love seeing players battle it out on the biggest stage possible. I wouldn’t recommend the city itself but that’s just me. If after all of this you still have any questions I’d be more than happy to answer them. Thanks again for reading and I hope you’ll come out one year if you’re thinking about it!

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One Day I Will Process What Happened. Today is Not That Day….

Sitting through the Roland Garros trophy ceremony in 2014, thinking “Simo put up an unbelievable fight, her time will come, it’s fine.” Sitting through the 2017 Roland Garros Ceremony thinking “I really wonder what it’s like to lift one of these slam trophies, the pain is very real this time. I feel it. A huge punch to the gut. I really thought it was her time, at her favorite grand slam. ” Sitting through the 2018 Australian Open ceremony thinking “Did it really happen again? What did she do to deserve this fate for a third time? Do the gods want her to have a slam?” June 9th, 2018. The 2018 Roland Garros ceremony. “She did it. We did it. So this is what it feels like. Bliss. Pure bliss.”

The point to the intro is, you will feel many things in times of hardship. But how do you get through them? Realize what the greater goal is after defeat. You feel heartbreak for the first time. You move on, it happens. You feel heartbreak for the second time. You move on, it happens. It really hurts, but it happens. You feel heartbreak for the third time. You don’t want to move on. You start to question everything. But you have to move on. You have to. You wait. Just wait. Sure enough, like the old cliché saying goes… good things come to those who wait. The longer you wait for something, the more you appreciate it when you finally get it. We’ve all felt what that winning a title feeling is like, but never in a slam. We wondered: what can that possibly feel like? You see her serve, you see Sloane Stephens hit a forehand return into the net, you see arms in the air, hands on her face, and you realize… it’s real. How real is it? That’s the feeling I wanted to talk about in this article. Not about the match overall, but the feeling of seeing an idol to so many all over the world win something that she’s never been able to grasp in her lifetime.

I think every Simo fan will tell you after this victory that there are no words to describe this feeling. But I love words. They give us the ability to express ourselves in vivid detail, they give us the ability to let loose, get over our worries, conquer our fears, immerse ourselfs in joyfulness, and paint a picture that is different from every other person in the world. Our words are our own. We may all be celebrating and talking about the same title, but each and every one of us is uniquely describing what it feels like that will be more different from the next person. That’s what makes this so special.

Personally, from the very beginning I had no idea how I would react if this ended in our favor. I still had no idea at 5-1 40-30. When it happens though, it just hits you. Boy oh boy did it ever hit me hard and I know I’m speaking for everyone here. There was no punch to the gut, no tearing up because you had to watch Simo in pain, and no more enduring more agonizing months of waiting. I was standing on championship point, the ball hit the net and I was suddenly on the floor, hands in face? I think that’s how it went. I don’t remember. It happened so fast I just knew I was on the floor. Also the fact that there were definitely plenty of tears streaming down too. I saw Simo also having her hands in her face and I could not believe what was happening. I saw elation on my TL, pure elation. I wept some more for you guys. My happiness was fun, Simo’s happiness was fun, but seeing everyone else explode was better than I ever imagined. I never ever in my lifetime read through so much happiness from her fellow players, neutral fans, and above all… my dear Simo fans. You guys were there being positive when she was going through her worst moments. You made me smile when I didn’t think I could. You guys never gave up. I love you all and you deserve this so much. Like I said, we are all celebrating her greatness at the same time, but each of us felt something different. Whether watching at home, at a party, at a bar, at a family/friend gathering, or with thousands of other fans… we watched it. We really did watch it.

You realize in that moment that it’s real, that the suffering is over, and that we were about to lose our minds in the best of ways. You see her climb the wall and hug her team and her family. You remember what it was like to watch many tennis players do that after winning a grand slam. You say to yourself “I want to see that from MY favorite player.” Well guys, we did. Simo hugged her proud coach Darren tight; the embrace we’ve seen before but you knew this one meant the most. She hugged Mama and Papa Halep, her proud parents. This was likely happening at the same time we were hugging the people we watched the match with. I don’t think there was ever more love at that moment than any other time in our lives as a tennis fan.

She walked up to the podium, waved to the crowd. She spoke. We listened. I feel like I drowned out the noise of every sound in the world to hear her in this moment, a moment where she tried to address so many inspired people all over the world that always wondered what this moment would be like, and realized how hard she worked and believed to get to this very stage. This was not a speech of disappointment, or a speech congratulating the winner, this was Simo on the podium, ON TOP! She had a smile that didn’t say ‘I’m holding back something I don’t want you to see’ but rather, ‘I’m smiling because I did it. This is my time and I’m going to make sure you know how much this means to me’ Last but not least… lifting the trophy. The final stage of this unbelievable day when she showed the world how high she could lift it, how high her spirit was, how bright her smile was, and that nobody was snatching this trophy away from her. We never again have to ask the question of “what would a grand slam trophy look like in Simo’s arms?” It is in her arms. Eyes closed she hugged it like it was her long-lost family member that she never knew how much she loved until it was in her grasp. Hold it tight dear Simo, and don’t worry…. it’s never leaving you anyway.

I hope you enjoyed my description of this moment. I really needed to let it out in the best way I could. June 9th, 2018. Simo’s day. Our day.

One day I will process what happened… but today is not that day.

Everything You Need to Know About The Volvo Car Open in Charleston

Hello all! I’m here to write about a little bit of my journey at the 2018 Volvo Car Open in Charleston, South Carolina and why it was one of my greatest experiences ever, and why it should be on your list of tournaments to attend one day! I am going to write this article which won’t be insanely long, less detailed, but more of a pros and cons type article about this tournament. Then I will also write an article that is much more detailed and thus longer, about my day by day experience of the nine day trip just in case you wanted to know more about how my daily routines worked, and how I managed to enjoy my time on site so much every day. There will very likely be some things that are pretty similar between the two articles but I hope not too much so it’s a good variety. So buckle up and I hope you enjoy what you see if you do happen to read!!

First of all, one of the things I always wonder about is the parking situation for every event I attend. It’s already a mini disappointment if you’re paying a lot to park because it obviously adds up if you go every day like I did. Good news! Free parking the whole tournament! So half of the four tournaments now I’ve attended were like this with Cincy being the other. The parking isn’t exactly on site; you just take a five minute school bus ride to the front gate and it’s great. It’s actually a very smooth system. Even at its most crowded times you are not waiting for an extremely long time which is a plus too.

So that’s one pro right off the bat and now let’s move on to another one. The overall grounds and how they are to navigate, crowd space, etc. The grounds are a perfect size I’d say; you walk in and immediately are walking upon the steps to the entrance to the Volvo Car Stadium so the stadium is impossible to miss no matter how hard you try. Plus, it’s a small enough stadium (but plenty big and beautiful too) to not get lost on where to enter or find your seat, etc. I’ll get more into that later. Next to the stadium is the tennis channel studio as well which is also impossible to miss. You are forced to see it when you walk in and it’s set up perfectly. Usually when I walked in there it was live too so you could immediately get behind the camera if you wanted and take a peek at the hosts and their preview of the upcoming day. It’s also the spot the players go to immediately after winning their matches (the ones on stadium and this starts towards the middle of the week) so you can camp out there and get a great spot while watching them do their interview and then sign and take pictures as well. Many pros about this part of the grounds and we’re just getting started!

Overall, this is not a huge site and that’s not a bad thing. I would actually say it’s a big positive but everybody has their own thoughts whoever has attended before. It’s really hard to get lost once you familiarize yourself a bit with it. I mean, it’s common knowledge to just walk around and explore it yourself before doing anything else so you can start to remember where certain hot spots are and that’s what I did. So when you walk in and get past the tennis channel studio and the main little plaza by the stadium, there are two ways you can go: straight, or left. Well, you could go right too but that would be into the stadium. Anyway, if you go straight you will run into a couple of great food trucks right away. There are a lot of tents and stands but I didn’t pay attention to most because I just like to see where the food is and where the courts are. So there won’t be much detail on the other stands. I will also go into the food a bit later too. If you’re still reading that is.

Once you get past the food trucks, you take a left and you get your first glimpse of some of the courts. There are a few practice courts you’ll see along this path and also a couple match courts. The biggest court on this path is court 3 and it’s got a set of small bleachers on the opposite side of the chair, and on the side of the chair there are tons of bleacher seats. It goes many rows high; it’s a bit of a weird court setup because it’s not like any of the other courts. The other ones are either big or small, and this one is sort of in between but also a nice court for fans because you can fit a lot in there so some great players got to play on this court and it was fun. Next to it was court 4 which was smaller as it only had one side fans could sit on and it was behind the chairs. Also the bleachers only went about three rows up so it was a very small court, and the smallest match court they have. Still, you were plenty close enough to enjoy the match no matter where you were sitting. I can’t even say this court is a con even if I do say it was my least favorite court.

Past these two match courts there were a couple of practice courts but these were rarely, if ever used by the top players. At least I never saw any big names on them, there were plenty of other better practice courts that they went on. So, you could basically skip those practice courts, keep going straight and eventually you’d run into the next biggest court after stadium which is Althea Gibson Club Court. I’ve heard great things about this court and boy it did not disappoint. Right before you walked into this court (which was a couple of steps up) there was your first glimpse of a map of the site so you knew where the hell you were going if you entered for the first time. This is how I started to get an idea of where I was and it looks a little confusing at first but quickly it turns very smooth to navigate. So anyway you walk into this court and there isn’t a bad seat in it. If you enter straight ahead you are sitting behind the chairs and the bleachers go way up as you would expect, but there are two front rows of chairs to sit in if you get there early enough so that’s nice too.

If you take a left when you enter the court, there are bleacher seats on the baseline which I always love because you can see the whole court straight ahead, well anyone who has attended know how baseline seats are. Right behind the baseline seats is the player clubhouse which is pretty cool too. Next to the clubhouse there are a bunch of tables and chairs for fans to sit in as well. These seats aren’t part of the actual court (meaning you can sit and go as you please no matter what the score is in the match) and still get a great view of the match. Plus, there is a railing you can lean on which also isn’t part of the court so it’s perfect if you want to get a close up view but leave whenever you want and not wait for changeovers. The last set of seats on this court are across from the chair and you can get to them by going past the baseline seats to the other side, and also a neat feature is this is also where a bunch of great practice courts are which I will transition into soon. So yeah, this court also is overlooked by a highway going over Wando river, it’s nice; definitely worth the hype and you’ll surely enjoy relaxing watching tennis on this court.

So as I was saying, if you go through this court (and not around. You’ll read about the difference soon) you will see about 5 or 6 practice courts next to each other and these are definitely ones that the big guns use frequently. These courts are on a downhill slope so you are basically on top of a mini hill overlooking all of these practice courts which is pretty cool if you don’t have a particular player interest and just want to sit down and see them all hit. But, if you want to see anyone up close, it is easy to move around and stand right up along the fence and get a clear view on any of these sets of courts. This is a HUGE positive to all of the practice courts is that every single one is easily accessible and no problem getting up close or worrying about players missing you when they come out. If you want a picture or autograph, you will get it. If the player wants to of course.

Let’s keep the tour going! So if you go left of these practice courts, there is a fence you can stand upon and past the fence is where all of the players go to relax whether it be in the dining area, the gym, or just the lawn, you will see lots of players here constantly so it’s a terrific spot to hang out if you just want to see players relaxing and calm and doing regular things. Right next to this is the entrance to the clubhouse where all of the players enter and you can stand right up close to the entrance which is cool. They may not be always willing to sign or take pictures when they enter but you can try if you want. I usually don’t because I know there will be better chances because the accessibility is so amazing as I said before. I just enjoy seeing them all come through. A great time to stand by the entrance is in the morning when they are all entering to start their day on the grounds. Transportation cars are always arriving with players in them and it’s nice to see them start their day going through the entrance up close. One little note about this: early in the week you can go across freely from one side to the other through the entrance to get to the other side but as the week goes on you can’t do that. You have to have credentials get through. It’s no big deal really as you just go around Althea Gibson Club Court instead to get to the other side, this was just a little shortcut if you will.

So, let’s assume it’s early in the week and you can freely cut across. Choosing this path takes you to some more practice courts. Now, like I mentioned before if you choose to go around AGCC instead of through it, you can see these practice courts right away. So whichever decision you make you will run into practice courts either way. There’s two main practice courts on this side, side by side and only one set of bleachers. But the one without them you can still stand right on the fence and be very close to them so it’s not a huge deal, either one is great. If you go even past those two courts and straight ahead a bit further, there is a path to a couple of more practice courts and these are the last of them on site. So once you hit the furthest ones, I’ve told you about all of the practice courts. And that’s basically everything regarding the grounds. It’s not big at all like I said but it easily still has everything you could want.

Two more things I want to talk about. The Ace Lounge, and Volvo Car Stadium. First, the Ace Lounge is a “VIP” tent offered to all people who were there for the whole week. So, me being a part of this group, I can tell you a little bit about it and if it’s anything worth having. It’s located right next to the stadium and also right when you walk in. So you see the tennis channel studio like I said earlier, and to the right of that is the ace lounge. There is also another entrance that connects from inside the stadium which is kind of cool. Now granted, I only went in once and that was the eighth day of the event on SF Saturday when it rained the entire day and no tennis took place. So I strolled in there and it’s nice I will admit that. There are couches in there, drinks, big screen TVs, live music. Just being able to sit on a couch and relax instead of stand around all crowded around people in a stadium was nice. I think it’s worth it to an extent, if you use it as something like I did when there isn’t much tennis going on it’s great. But otherwise I probably wouldn’t have spent too much time in it. I knew coming in that I likely wouldn’t do much with it, but I’m very glad I tried it at least and it’s a nice little extra perk to have if you’re there for the whole week.

Last but not least… the stadium and all of the views involved in it. It’s a very nice size and you can easily see the beauty of it right when you walk into it especially from the box seats which as I will explain, I was lucky to watch some matches from there. My first look into it was for a Petra practice and it was so quiet and calm in there and I loved every second of it. My first time in there was my favorite time because I was watching Petra in the front row of a stadium, can’t beat that. The tickets I had for the stadium were in the second level but in row A so it was as good of a seat as possible for that level. Then there are the 300 level seats which are general admission so there are no assigned seats, it’s just all bleachers. I sat there for a match too so I sat in all three sections for a match and I can confirm there is no bad seat in the house.

I mostly just wanted to talk about my courtside experience because it was a pleasant and bonnus experience I got to try for the first time. Normally, I didn’t ever expect to be able to watch any matches from there, or any stadium I went to, but I cheated the system if you will and it worked to perfection. I never tried this at any other stadiums I went to so I’m not sure if it can work elsewhere too but either way it was funny. There were always players practicing in the morning on stadium like an hour before the first match and you could sit anywhere you wanted for those practices so I sat as close as possible. During the matches you had to have a special pass to sit there. So I just stayed in the seats after the practice was over until the first match started and if nobody came to sit in your seats you could enjoy the view as long as possible without anyone questioning it. I took advantage of that and watched a couple of matches courtside and it was beautiful. Maybe to others it doesn’t seem as interesting but to me it was so surreal and cool to be able to do that because i never expected it.

I didn’t know exactly where to slide this bit of info in but one really nice feature was inside the stadium there was a stand where you could buy a big souvenir cup for $30. Once you had it, you got unlimited refills from a drink machine with soda and water all week long. I’m just saying this so if you ever come across this and get asked about buying this cup… BUY IT YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!! BEST PURCHASE YOU CAN MAKE ALL WEEK!! IT LOOKS REALLY COOL TOO!!

Overall, i would give this tournament a huge thumbs up and a 100% recommendation. It’s peaceful, not too crowded, beautiful, accessible, fan friendly, and everything else you can think of. I feel lucky to have been able to enjoy this place for nine days and hopefully it won’t be the last time either! Anyone who read this whole thing I hope it was valuable, enjoyable, and informative to read! Any other questions don’t hesitate to ask!!!

Thank you so much and enjoy your day!!

Jake 🙂

 

 

Why it’s not Crazy to Think that Petra Kvitova can get her Winning Streak to at Least 20 in a Row

I know what you may be thinking when opening this… are we really talking about the possibility of 20, (yes 20!) wins in a row from one of the most well-known up and down players in the WTA in a long time? The answer is quite simply…. yes. Yes indeed we are. This is because Petra Kvitova has not only come back from her attack playing amazing tennis, but perhaps currently playing at her best level in her career.

Now I know what your next question/comeback to that last sentence will be. “Are you sure that this isn’t one of her famous hot streaks and she’ll come back to the inevitable reality that is her inconsistency? What about her grand slam title runs? Better than those?” Answers: No, i’m not 100% sure that this isn’t another random hot streak and reality could hit her soon because this is Petra Kvitova after all. One minute she can destroy a top player, the next minute she can crumble against someone out of the top 100. It’s the rollercoaster of being on #TeamPetra that we all know and love. However, I am starting to get heavily convinced that we’ve never seen a level better than this one right now from her and it’s one that nobody but herself can stop, hence why i’m making this article.

Petra as we all know is currently riding an unbelievable 13 match winning streak; one win shy of tying her career long streak of 14 set back in 2011-2012 in the best season of her career and where at the tail end of that streak she was inches away from the #1 ranking. During this streak she has won a couple of fed cup matches, and two titles in St Petersburg and Doha respectively which included all different kinds of matches. She has obliterated some opponents, she has gone AWOL for multiple sets, and she has fought back from behind to win in some incredible ways. The most impressive part of this streak is highlighted from the last part of that previous sentence. In St Petersburg you could easily see what we’ve always known from her: she can turn on a switch and go all GOATra on the field and snatch a trophy like that. Besides one bad set against Irina Begu, she either destroyed the field or was outclassed for a little bit (the match against Julia Georges was one i didn’t think would be easy at all and it wasn’t) It also felt like the score of the championship match against Kiki Mladenovic was one everyone could see coming from a mile away. My point to all of this is that St Petersburg was in a way predictable after a couple of matches. It was no secret indoortra was going to be a huge favorite to win the tournament. Doha however, is where I started to believe something different is happening right now.

It all started with an unthinkable set from her to start the tournament against Cagla Buyukakcay. 18 minutes, 6-0 and only four points lost. Four. Still can’t get over it but it happened. There never was another set anywhere close to that easy but maybe it was a sign. In her next match against Aga Radwanska she lost a grueling 67 minute first set in a tiebreaker, and then went down an early break. Having played her 4th match in five days, really starting to feel the tired legs, and going against an opponent known for breaking down her competitors, nobody would have been surprised if the end struck Petra. Quite a common theme throughout this tournament and yet here we are! But it wasn’t. She won in three. I think this is where her whole attitude and belief changed. She could battle until to the bitter end of a tough match despite being very fatigued.

She kept winning. And winning. Roared through world #4 Elina Svitolina in straight sets; another fierce competitor despite having a great H2H against her it wasn’t supposed to be that easy. It almost seemed the more tired physically she was supposed to be, the stronger mentally she got. After beating Julia Georges against after she retired midway through the match, suddenly she was in the SFs of this big tournament. We still haven’t even gotten to her most impressive feats of this streak!

Her next two matches against at the time world #1 Caroline Wozniacki, and #3 Garbine Muguruza to win Doha are why I think she can beat anybody right now. Down 3-6 1-3 to the former, and she came alive. That’s right… instead of crumble away and let the fatigue finish her off, she ROARED back to not only win the second set, but continue to put every ounce of pressure possible on Wozniacki. I’ll never forget that second set tiebreak. Down 1-3, and winner. Next point: winner. Next point: winner. Suddenly it’s 4-3. Showing no fear and painting lines as it was nothing. The Petra way or no other way! We all know the style of game Wozniacki plays; it’s not suited for Petra well especially this year where she has improved immensely to regain the number one ranking for a bit and win her first ever grand slam. However, Petra’s defense in this match was beyond impressive considering how hard she had already worked this week and it gave her a much better chance to succeed.

Petra won that match and you all know the story against Muguruza. She started extremely sluggish and nearly got bageled in the first before winning three straight games to regroup going into the second. Then fought like nobody knew possible and won that match too in three sets. Someone still needs to tell me where she got all of that energy and stamina from?!?!? My favorite parts about this streak are that Petra was down and out multiple times, and each time she found another gear mentally and physically and came back to win. Also the fact that she is not only coming back from these deficits, but she is doing it against a huge chunk of the top 10!!! She is literally taking the hardest road possible to keep this streak alive by beating the best of the best. During this streak, she is not only oblierating winners as usual, she is defending, staying in rallies, absorbing pace, and using all sorts of variety. I mean, what else do you want from her?? Let’s also not forget the fact that not only did her strong fitness level pay off in a big way, but her mentality has improved beautifully as well. Two aspects of her game that past history has shown is a big weakness for her. She always had the talent and power to blow any opponent off of the court, but if she adds in this kind of fitness, mental strength, and defensive mind… she will be unstoppable.

My bottom line to all of this is that I don’t care (Repeat: I. Do. Not. Care.) what her draw at Indian Wells might hold right now… (she beat almost the whole top 10 already so her opponents shouldn’t scare you too much) it will always be a winnable tournament if her belief and fearlessness are there, and she doesn’t beat herself. (I was going to add and she doesn’t get too tired but that aspect might not have any effect right now as was just proven!) An Indian Wells title would give her 19 wins in a row, and grab a win at Miami to make it 20. I’m not saying she is a lock to win IW of course, but her chances are better than they ever have been before. Of course she’s still Petra and she is human so it could randomly end abruptly, but I feel so confident right now and I hope you all are too.

What do you all think? How long do you think this streak will go on? It’s ok if you disagree with me on any of these things in the article, we’re just having fun here! I know it will be easier to guess when you see the IW draw but still it’s worth a shot to try now. I’m saying 17 at this moment but i’m also saying as the article is titled… don’t be surprised if she gets to 20. Let your Kvitty imagination run wild and pojd forever!!!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!!

Jake

 

 

 

 

My First Time Fed Cup Experience Czech Republic vs USA

Over the years I’ve attended plenty of professional tennis tournaments and they all have been equally tremendous fun. However, fed cup was something that seemed extra special and entertaining to me and as soon I knew USA was hosting my favorite team of all time, a team that represents the beautiful country of Czech Republic, I knew I had to make it happen. I first prayed it would be in a location that was accessible to me. Lo and behold, they put it in Florida. Not just a random city in Florida… Tampa, an area that I was very familiar with over my lifetime. This was my chance to see some of my favorite players play in a setting unlike any other.

There was only one obstacle I thought that could stop me from going and that’s the one that I ended up having to face. I enjoy watching all of the Czech players play I always have; but of course I’m going to have a few that stand out above the rest that I really wanted to see play. Everyone knows Petra is the one that I love most aka the love of my life. We knew before any of this was possible that she couldn’t play until the final at best if they ended up making it there. So she was out. There were still the other three big players that had a chance to play and it seemed at least one of Bara Strycova, Lucie Safarova, and Karolina Pliskova would play to give their team a chance to make another final. I was admittedly gutted when they all passed on the decision to play. I obviously realized going all the way to Florida from Europe just for the weekend was never going to be easy for them and the decision was understandable. I just needed a bit of time to let it sink in.

I immediately gave no thought (which was dumb) and said it’s not worth it without of them playing. That thought disintegrated from my mind only about an hour later. The Czechs RARELY come to the United States let alone a city I can actually go to. They have only come twice in the last 27 years. 27!! The last time was 2003 and the time before was 1990. So I did not want to take any chances and miss it because who knows how long it’ll be before they’ll be back. I mean yes it could happen sooner next time but I’m not about to wait and find out. Plus by the time they do come back, I still assume the quickest time possible is 4-5 years and my faves could all be retired by then and then maybe I don’t want to go. OK I REALIZE WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY! ME GOING NOW IN THAT SAME SITUATION IS NO DIFFERENT THAN IN 5 YEARS BUT STILL… 4-5 IS STILL BEST CASE! I’m not sure I still want to go when I’m like 40. Anyways so here I am!!

Ok that was my background on my decision to go to this tie. Now the real experience of everything about attending it. The hotel I stayed at it was extremely close to the resort (5 mins drive) that was amazing. Now where they played is an actual resort where people stay and you could see all of the different amenities they had there like nice rooms, a big pool, tennis courts, golf course, etc. it was quite beautiful. The resort only knew they were going to be hosting fed cup for about a month a half ahead of time. So they had to plop a stadium down onto the resort somewhere in that amount of time which they did and it holds about 3,000 people so it’s nice all things considering. If you were curious about how the parking was sorted out, I’ll tell you. It wasn’t that bad actually. With it being a resort, it just felt like being inside a little neighborhood so it was like one big circle. There were different lots around the resort and none of them were that far from each other. You could even walk to them from the stadium if you really wanted but shuttles would come and go from the lots and that was that. Once you got to the stadium, the actual grounds around it were extremely limited. There were basically little plaza square areas around each stadium exit with about 2-3 food/drink stands and that was about it. But you could go way back to the resort where there was much more room (like by the huge pool) if you wanted; there wasn’t an issue with leaving the grounds area and not being able to come back. Because of that, it was never as crowded as you’d expect in those little squares which I liked.

The stadium looked great as far as I could tell and I feel like any seat you had would’ve been terrific. It’s obviously not a gigantic stadium like other events I’ve attended so it makes even the highest seats pleasant for viewing. I sat in one of the corners of the stadium which I love and the action was great. The atmosphere was how you would expect, heavy USA cheering but a few sections scattered about with Czech fans and the biggest group was behind the Czech bench which is usually how it is for visiting teams. The most notable thing about the atmosphere was the noise. I knew it was coming but still, I could clearly tell the crowd around me at least was not ready for the heavy blasting of vuvuzelas, trumpets, and whatever else they had after every point. Especially the Czechs behind the bench. They let them roar after every point they won. I enjoyed it personally but it’s not a typical tennis thing so it had to throw off the crowd a bit. At least until they got used to it. If they ever did.

I’m not gonna talk too much about the matches because you all saw them or at least know what happened. I’ll just say live tennis is as good as it gets no matter who is playing. I didn’t know what I’d get from this tie but it was as intense as I ever hoped. I was also rooting for it to go to a deciding doubles rubber to see what that would be like and it did which was fantastic. Maky showed brilliant strength and mental toughness on the last day with the Czechs down 1-2 to force that decider and as a Czech fan that was the coolest part of the weekend to see someone like her succeed against the tough crowd when it mattered most. That was the match I enjoyed most.

I’m someone who enjoys going against the majority crowd and getting to show my Czech pride was so invigorating. I was fistpumping, pojding, and sitting next to a great group of fans who appreciated how good the Czech girls played despite rooting for USA unsurprisingly. My favorite part of it all was the constant crowd chant battles of U-S-A! U-S-A! Vs ČES-KO! ČES-KO! This is what it’s all about. The players were heavily into it and the crowd never let up either. Regardless of the result, I’ll never forget this weekend and will hold my head high of the girls’ effort. They did their country proud. Good luck to USA in the final as well!

Thanks for reading!

Jake

 

2017 Season Preview/Predictions of Simo Halep. Is a Grand Slam Title Finally in the Cards?

Welcome back fellow Halepenos and HalepBand!! It is that time again as we are ready to kick off another year of supporting our champion. Last year Simo started very slow with a first round exit in the first slam in the year down under. She came into it with an illness which ended up becoming a more serious issue than initially expected and she even announced that she would have nasal surgery to fix it which would’ve sidelined her for at least a month including fed cup. Here’s where I jump in to say THANK GOD SHE POSTPONED IT WE GOT THE GREATEST KVITALEP MATCH OF ALL TIME BECAUSE OF THAT!! Ok. Moving on. Simo went on to win three titles in 2016: Madrid, (her first one in 14 months) Bucharest for the second time in her career (the first one she ever won multiple times) and another huge win in Montreal over Madison Keys the week before the Olympics which she didn’t participate in. She kind of struggled towards the end of the year but one of her highlights even in defeat was a very hard-fought battle against Serena in Flushing Meadows at the US Open which she lost in three sets. Including one of the most clutch sets you’ll see in a long time where she faced 12 break points in the second set and saved every single one to win it.

So…. What does 2017 have in store for us? She will begin her journey in Shenzhen again; an event which she won back in 2015. Barring health issues, as I believe every year, the highlight of this year will be seeing her stand in front of a massive crowd kissing her first career grand slam trophy. Doubters and haters will say she will never be able to do it because of weak mental strength, power, etc. but they have never stopped us before in believing it will happen. Simo has to trust herself most importantly, live in the moment and play without fear because that’s the only thing holding her back as of now since we know her fighting spirit and talent has never been in question.He can’t help her on court during them but believe in Darren to show her the way to this majestic trophy! He’s a wizard don’t ever doubt that! This partnership has many great things left to accomplish in her career. I think Simo can win at least five titles this year (my bias could even do more if I wanted! But five sounded nice to start with) And I’m gonna predict them (despite not knowing draws which of course would help) and the results at every slam for starters here:

Australian Open: QF- This one is hard to predict for a lot more reasons than usual mainly because it’s so early in the year and it can be hard to get fully zoned into grand slam mode immediately starting 2017, you don’t know who is hot and who is cold yet, and the extreme heat is always random and that can get concerning on certain days. I mean I know she can go further but she has never reached a SF here and so I’m hesitant to think she will all of a sudden, but she has the talent to even win this so I’m trying to be cautious but at the same time optimistic! Based on plenty of experience… it’s better to be pleasantly surprised than expect a title and get let down again.

Roland Garros– Winner! A boring and obvious pick for many as the one she will win first but hey, this is her favorite event to play so why shouldn’t it be here? And she has shown amazing success here before and on clay in general. I still am very bitter about how it ended last year as the conditions were extremely horrid and they made her play through them and it cost her a loss. It’s not like she played great but come on she should’ve never been out there. That could’ve easily been her first slam too who knows. Ok that’s enough of Jake’s rant session that’s a topic you don’t want to push me on! So throw away the loss to Lucic Baroni in 2015 and her resume here doesn’t look too shabby.

Wimbledon: QF- This would be the same result as last year and I feel the same way about this one as AO because I know she can have success here and the 2014 SF shows that, but grass has never been her best surface and I feel she will need some draw luck to go deep. If she didn’t have to play Angie last year I think she could’ve had a shot at the title again so while this wouldn’t be an amazing run, I am still optimistic that she can go even deeper here! She has to believe I keep saying that’s always the key!

US Open- Final. I don’t know if she can win but I can easily see her making her first USO final this year because she has played some fantastic tennis in New York and nearly made it in 2015 before falling very flat in the SF vs Pennetta. If she gets there, it’s not like I’m automatically predicting a loss I am just saying I think she’s gonna get there and the rest will play out itself. I mean it could be against Serena for all we know and that’s big trouble (not that it’s totally impossible to beat her 😉 If she already has one this year coming into this one, the thought of her playing for her second one in the same year gives me so many feels don’t touch me right now I’m getting emotional.

The main thing I’m praying for this grand slam season are that there are no extremely early round flops to break our hearts. (Ok YES ANY GRAND SLAM LOSS WILL BREAK OUR HEARTS BUT YOU GET ME) Because this has happened at least once in each of the past couple of years and we know it’s very difficult to deal with! It crushes me seeing all of her fans sad after losses like those because it’s so unexpected and it’s just like a huge bomb out of nowhere dropping down on her fanbase. If she is gonna lose at a slam I prefer it to be later because at least she gave herself a much better chance to lift the trophy.

Also another prediction that is probably worth mentioning is her ranking status this year. She is currently #4 in the world and you have to think if she can maintain that consistency and stay in the top 5 the whole year that would be another great year for her. Of course her reaching #1 in the world is another huge achievement that we would all love to see her get to at some point, but it certainly won’t be easy. However, it’s obviously not impossible and there will be some nice chances early for her to get at least to #3 by the end of the Australian Open and if she wins it, could leapfrog all the way to #2 if I’m not mistaken. Bottom line, my prediction is that she will end at #3. I think staying in the top 5 is still my main wish but I’m not ruling her out to get higher and higher if she believes in herself and takes her chances.

Last but not least, my four other trophy predictions include Shenzhen again, Miami, Cincy and Singapore. Why not try for some more new trophies for her trophy case! Feel free to make your predictions on her titles, her grand slam results and anything else you want! Regardless of how her year plays out I can’t wait to support Simo with all of you for another year. Win or lose we always have her beautiful smile, her positivity, her cuteness, her kindness, her hard work ethic, and too many more amazing qualities to count. That counts for more than any tennis result could. I wish you all a healthy and Happy New Year and let’s make 2017 the best one yet! Hai Super Simo!!

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Jake

The Story of My Unforgettable Barbora Strycova Experience

I want to share a story that most of you know some parts by now, but I never got a chance to explain it more in detail from my heart on how cool and memorable it was. (And it wasn’t just one day) I didn’t think at the end of my trip i’d be writing a story on a player not named Petra or Simo but here we are and it’s fully deserved. Now, she isn’t my favorite player of course but it may seem like it with the way I think I’m gonna end up fanboying. She certainly did leap way closer to the top after this though. Let me just start by saying if you didn’t already know how special of a human being Barbora Strycova is, this story will prove it to you. I can’t help but describe how awesome she made me feel. That was the most important reason for this is she made me feel like more than just an average tennis fan, but someone who is appreciated at least a little more than usual and made me feel better about myself than any other tennis player has done before. It’s kind of hard to explain the feeling but hopefully this story does it better.

It all started during her first practice of the week which was in the early evening as the sun was beginning to set. I didn’t even know if she’d be out there because this was the day she was flying from Rio to Cincy. She was originally on the practice schedule for 330 and 6 pm but the first one got removed which was expected. The second one was still there though but then a huge downpour of rain came late in the afternoon and halted play for awhile and that can always mess up practice schedules. So I still didn’t know if she’d be there at around 6. I knew she was on the grounds, as she came through the gates just a little bit before then but it doesn’t guarantee the time of practice or anything. Aaaaanyway turns out she came out at her scheduled court 13 at around 6 like scheduled. The only problem was the courts were still soaked from the recent downpour. This was one of the funnier moments of the week as Bara was out there starting to dry the courts with her coach, but she only lasted about 5 minutes and then she was like peace out and left the courts for like 20 minutes while her coach kept drying. She came back to get her headphones it looked like and then left again. She does what she wants and no one tells her otherwise. Finally after her court was dry she was back out there and started to hit. Now, you might be reading this thinking how does this part of the story have any relevance to the later events? You have a right to think this but read the rest and find out!

As I do for a lot of players, I took a bunch of pictures of her hitting and such on both the camera and phone. There was one in particular on my phone that I loved and it’s this one here. She was hitting one of her shots and the sun shined in a perfect position and I just thought it was perfect. This picture was how you say ‘sent in’ to a brilliant Bara fan account on IG @strycovaswarm. Who I give a huge shoutout and thanks to for using it (You know who you are!) because it’s the main reason all of this started because that’s how she saw my picture (follow it, it’s all about Bara as you would expect and there’s no hiding how much she loves it too) to use for the beginning of her journey in Cincy. I will get back to the continuation of this part of the story soon, and there is still so much to say too.

I ended up getting a selfie and an autograph after this practice and it was the first time we came face to face and there was no surprise how nice Bara was at our first meeting. There weren’t many other people waiting for her but I heard one fan kind of softly say as we watched her take pictures with a couple other fans “you don’t see many players giving that kind of a smile every single time” Yup. Just look at all of her selfies. They’re all amazing in every way.

The next day for the first time ever I went to watch her play a singles match live (I saw a couple of her doubles matches in Miami with Makarova earlier in the year and they were pretty good) and it was against Genie Bouchard on grandstand which is a nice court to start on. Although all the courts are great to get a really close look at the players except stadium. The worst part about this match was the rain was a huge factor once again. There was a delay for a bit before it started, and then they played awhile where Bara was doing very well taking a set and pulling away in the second. Then there was another huge delay just before the match seemed it was going to end because Bara was up 4-0 in the second. So by the time they came back on court it was past 9 pm and they originally arrived on court at around 330. So Bara was able to complete the bagel at around 930, so six hours between the start and end to this match it was crazy! I ended up sitting in the pouring rain again to save my good spot up front even though I probably would have gotten it back anyway lol. It was all good and then after she won I got another selfie and this is where the first interesting thing of my experiences happened… There weren’t that many people again waiting for her to sign or take pictures because not many reappeared after the lengthy rain delay. I asked her for the selfie and when she saw me at first she said “oh hey” like she already remembered me from that brief encounter the night before at her practice. Hmm. The selfie was pretty much identical to the first which I had no doubts it would be but it was fun.

The next day she won another match against Sam Stosur this time and it was even a better court to be on than grandstand, court 7. It was small but if you got a seat you were guaranteed to be nice and close it’s awesome. However, I’m gonna skip to the next day and continue my story from earlier about the picture I took at the first practice.  This day in a surprising development, Bara and Simo were scheduled to practice together in the morning before their matches. So of course I knew I’d be there. Ok, before I talk about the practice you need the background of what happened even before I arrived to the grounds that day. I woke up and found out that Bara first liked the post on the fan account where my photo was used without her even being tagged in it. (Again, this is a regular thing she’s too good) Then she took the photo and posted it on her own IG account and that was only the third time a player has used one of my photos for social media. Andreea and Simo were the others.  Anyway that would’ve been enough for me as I was pretty excited about it, but turns out that was only the beginning…

I got to their practice court early (court 16) and waited and once the time came Bara was the first to arrive. There were very few people there again, at least until Simo showed up after. But the brief time before that when it was just Bara it was empty. I was just sitting on the bleachers and there’s a walkway in front of the bleachers where the players go through to enter the court; she came through and looked my way and said “Hi! You made a really nice picture yesterday!” I mean… how do you respond to that when it comes out of nowhere? I could barely say thank you because of how speechless I was. My heart was racing and so many questions ran through my head. How did she know it was me that took it? I mean I was tagged on the fan account picture, did she go onto my profile to see? She had to of. That’s the only way she could’ve put it together so quickly. Then Simo came through and it gave me no time to recover from what just happened. However she only hit for 15 minutes and then bailed out. As did the rest of the crowd. Like literally every single other person but me was there for solely Simo. So it was just Bara again for a little while longer. Then after she was done she came through one more time and I was like, a selfie won’t do me any good here I have to get a nice regular picture. I can’t lie, I was so tempted to ask her more about how she knew about me, and the fan account and everything, but I don’t want to be someone who takes up too much of her time, I mean she’s got a match to play soon. Knowing Bara she probably wouldn’t have minded since no one else was there, but I’m not the bravest person sorry! Another quick funny thing, I wanted her coach to take the picture but he was walking away. So Bara points to a little girl closer to us who couldn’t have been much older than 3-4 and says “oh she can take it” In my head I’m like no let’s not try that lol. The coach ended up turning around and he took it. Of course the picture did not disappoint either like the person I was standing next to.

Later in the day, she ended up losing her singles match to Kerber in straight sets but she played as well as she could have. Angie was just on a mission for that number one spot she was chasing. I made an IG post about my experience with her earlier in the day and she liked the photo. The last thing I want to talk about from this story is the last practice I got to see her during the week. It was a nice practice. I was on the other side of where she sat, behind a short fence on court 13, the same one where her very first practice was. As she was walking off she looked over and waved at me. I swear I’m not making these things up. I don’t blame you if you think this but it all happened! That’s why I’m writing this because I have never experienced anything like it. I have no reason to ever doubt this woman.

And to cap it all off, she won the doubles title in Cincy with her brand new partner Sania Mirza. I saw a few matches and this team is great. They passed every challenge with flying colors, especially in the final coming back from 1-5 down in the first set to win it 7-5. It was such an incredible week! Now, if you ever wonder why I’m a fan of Bara and why she is in my bio, you can read this. It’s not just this experience either; I have a list saved on why she is cemented into my bio forever.

Thanks to all who read this and I hope you enjoyed it! Have a nice day.

Five Reasons Why Simo Will and Won’t Win Roland Garros

Since I made one for Petra of course I had to do one for Super Simo! There are always plenty of questions for her entering every slam it seems like and each one the anticipation grows and grows of when that elusive first slam title will come. The following points will show why she will finally get that first slam here in beautiful Paris, and why she will have to wait another month to try again.

Five Reasons Why Simo Will Win Roland Garros

1. She is as confident as she has been in a long time

This year has been a rocky one with not many positives and nearly was cut short after an announced surgery that ended up never happening. We often have to question her confidence and yes a lot of it is bad luck with injuries, but there have been losses this year that are hard to explain. However, she is fresh off of her biggest win of the season and the past 14 months with her title in Madrid that seemingly came out of nowhere. (Or it was a long time coming if you’re like us and know how hard she constantly works) It came at the perfect time as Simo has to feel like her game is right where it needs to be and she can fully believe that she can lift this trophy. Everything came together and she proved that the good times were far from over. Any title is special but when she got one this big and right before a slam, her confidence will never get higher. Forget about the early loss in Rome right after that. It’s very hard to get focused that quickly and switch court speeds like that. I would not put any stock on that result. As long as she didn’t get injured it’s fine. That should not change her belief.

2. She finally seems to be getting toward 100% health wise

Before Madrid started this was a major concern as we saw because she got absolutely crushed by Laura Siegemund in Stuttgart and her injury from Fed Cup the previous weekend was a big factor. She couldn’t do anything she wanted to do and was very limited in her shots and movement. I still think it was an event she should not have entered as she said her ankle was still very painful after the weekend and basically tried to run on adrenaline alone. That wasn’t going to cut it and it showed. In Madrid she basically made all of our worries disappear as there were no signs of trouble with it during her title run. Even in Rome it didn’t seem to be that bad, it was just a tough recovery match right after a long week in Madrid. Me personally I don’t have concerns about it unless she says something bad about it. Simo moved beautifully all week in Madrid and if she is 100% percent healthy or close to it unlike in Melbourne this year during the first slam… then watch out she can win it all; especially because of how often injuries have held her back in the past and what kind of player she is when fully healthy.

3. She is a very good clay court player

There is no doubt about it she has the game on this surface to win it. There are so many ways that clay suites her game. She slides so well and it enhances her world class defending skills to a point where it can drive her opponents crazy. The SF and Finals matches in Madrid proved every bit of that. She will never be able to outhit the big power guns but what she can do is make them earn every point they play and players like them are more vulnerable to breaking down because of that. Simo likes the long points and if she can make them work harder than they have to she will have them right where she wants them. It’s not like she has no power at all either; she is very capable of turning her brilliant defense into offense quickly and that will be a crucial step to win this title.

4. The WTA has not been in a consistent state this year

This was a positive reason in my Petra article and I believe it can easily be used again because of how important it is. You never know what you’re going to get at a WTA event this year because of all of the inconsistent players and this is something Simo can take advantage of. I mean she kind of did it in Madrid because she was the only seeded player in the QFs. It doesn’t matter how she did it though because she hasn’t taken advantage that often in the previous 14 months without a title. This draw is also capable of breaking down and if Simo has a favorable enough draw we could see her playing opponents that are very manageable which would mean a deeper result and perhaps her being fresher for the really tough opponents down the road. That being said, the slam draws haven’t mattered to her much the past year or so as she’s lost to players like Zhang, Cepelova, Lucic Baroni, etc. She can’t take advantage of draws without beating those kind of players.

5. Her only grand slam final was at this very event

Yes it’s time to bring back one of the best Simo moments of all time when she made a memorable run to the 2014 Roland Garros final and nearly captured her first grand slam title against Maria Sharapova. That is a match if you have to watch one Simo match that she didn’t win, that’s the one. It demonstrates all of the reasons Simo has a great chance to win this slam every year and why many people think her first one will be here. Everyone already knows she can challenge any player on the tour but this just showed that in the biggest moments she is ready to fight her hardest until the very end. The strengths that I described about Simo on clay earlier were in full force against Maria who is one of the toughest competitors of the game during this era. She did everything but win the match and I fully believe that when she has the chance, she will show her best again and this time it will be good enough to win.

Five Reasons Why Simo Won’t Win Roland Garros

1. She puts too much pressure on herself by saying there is no pressure

Every slam it seems we hear the same thing from her ‘I have no expectations, I’m just going to play my game and see what happens’ Well I know she means well but it’s like she is trying so hard to avoid pressure to make it seem like she doesn’t have to worry about it, and next thing you know she is out. You can’t say things that are unrealistic and I know some will say this is a good frame of mind but to me it makes it seem she is making it harder on herself by avoiding any pressure talks. I’m not saying she should just admit the pressure is on and she’s nervous, but in reality it will always be there and she has to deal with it. If she plays it too safe again she won’t last long.

2. Grand Slams have ended in horrific fashion for her many times recently

Recent history shows that this is the main concern for why Simo will not win Roland Garros this year although it’s my second reason. When Simo loses at a slam, she doesn’t just lose, she collapses in a terrifying way. There is no warning of when it is coming, it just happens and we have to sit there stunned and depressed. This isn’t a reason that can be explained other than she just faces the wrong opponents at the wrong time. Think of her slam losses since 2014 Wimbledon. Lucic Baroni badly twice, basically giving up against Makarova in 2015 AO, no answer for Cepelova in the first round of 2015 Wimbledon, and then again a complete no show in USO SF against Flavia Pennetta after one of her greatest matches in her career against Vika. And of course we can’t forget this year’s first round defeat in Melbourne where Zhang blew her off the court. That leads to my next point. There isn’t a legit loss for Simo at a slam since that RG final I just discussed. It happens way too often for a player of her stature and don’t think it can’t happen again.

3. She can get blown off the court when you least expect it

Like I said before and it’s something that is widely known so you don’t need me to tell you, Simo is not the most powerful player so she is vulnerable to this against the big hitters. She has run into opponents like Lucic Baroni and Zhang who had their way with her in every possible way imagined and there is nothing Simo can do. She just sits back and takes the abuse and in the blink of an eye it’s over. It’s almost like early on she knows she is getting painfully outhit and just goes through the motions the rest of the way until the bleeding is over. This is something that fans can realize early on too that she is in big trouble when her opponents are on fire and painting lines where even her strong defending can’t save her. When players take away her defending ability and being able to turn that into offense, it hurts her chances much more. I am afraid of this reason happening the most because there isn’t a worse feeling than watching her being helpless out there.

4. Injuries that linger turn into painful consequences

Simo can tell us all she wants that she is feeling great and all of that fine and dandy stuff. However, it always seems her injuries never really go away and get worse and worse during a specific match during a slam or any event for that matter and all of a sudden it is affecting every part of her game and that’s how losses can happen. I’m not saying she is losing at slams because of her injuries, but she has a very fragile body and this is a reason you cannot avoid because we have seen it too many times before. She needs to be able to win matches as quickly as possible early on so she doesn’t put so much wear and tear on her ankle/foot which is usually the main part of her body that has trouble holding up. Clay especially more than any surface in my opinion is where you need healthy feet because of how much running and sliding needs to be done. Plus when movement and defense are her biggest strengths on this surface, it’s not something that would be good at all if that is taken away. I can tell you this much, if she has any troubles with it during this event, you can forget about her winning. Although playing every other day is a plus.

5. Her mind and emotions are as fragile as her body

This does tie into the other points a bit but still there is more to be said. I feel the emotions part especially is noteworthy because Simo is extremely hard on herself and a perfectionist. This leads to her emotions getting the best of her because she loses control when it isn’t necessary. We saw a great example of this in Madrid when she faced Irina Begu and let a simple tactic or what she thought was bad when Begu was getting coaching during the match play. Those are things she has to put away and not worry about. In slams there are gonna be a lot of tense moments and she has to focus on herself and nothing else. Yes she can’t change the fact that she will get angry on bad shots and want to win every point badly and throw her racquet, etc. She can change when she does it and how often because the less upset she gets, the more energy she saves during the match. Every ounce of energy will be needed for her because of her style. If she doesn’t have enough, of course she won’t win it.

I hope you liked this article and again thank you for reading! You can give more reasons if you please and feel free to agree or disagree with these reasons! Let’s hope for a huge run here once again!

Hai Simo!!

 

Five Reasons Why Petra Will and Won’t Win Roland Garros

Just under one week from today another grand slam is upon us and the excitement is in the air. But her fans want to know how will Petra do? Does she have a legit threat to win this title or is there something blocking her path that is too much to overcome? I felt like writing this article because I wanted to offer my thoughts on how she can lift this trophy, but also how she will come up short. Nobody knows how she’ll do of course and I know the draw isn’t out yet but this way I can give realistic thoughts early on both sides so nobody is too hopeful or pessimistic. I’m trying to balance my usual optimism with some harsh truths and trying to balance it for #TeamPetra too! Feel free to counter your thoughts as this is an interesting topic to discuss!

Five Reasons Why Kvitty Will Win in Paris

1. The uncanny ability to blow anyone off the court on any given day/week(s).

As a Petra fan this is the reason you have faith in her to win anywhere anytime even when her form isn’t the greatest at the moment. Sure, she can be wild but also very deadly and we never know when Petra could get hot and start destroying all of her competition. It could be coming soon and if she’s on, it won’t matter who she is playing because she’ll run right through them. Although Madrid is a different court speed, when she won that title last year that’s the potential you are looking at in any event. I don’t care what surface it’s on or what form she’s in, I would take Petra over a lot of other players to have the best chance to get hot and dominate anyone. Not many have the potential to do it like she does. We’ve seen it before and it’s truly mesmerizing to watch.

2. She is due for a big event

We all know Petra is the type of player who will flop randomly to people she shouldn’t, but then out of nowhere wins a huge title because she’s just that good. It’s no secret that this year has been nothing short of disastrous, but you have to feel that Petra is getting closer and closer to that big surprise that she is known to deliver. Last year the season was going kind of similar to this until she stormed through Madrid and won her second title there while beating in Serena in the process. That was on clay too of course and basically out of nowhere so you never know. Even when Petra’s form isn’t the greatest this is still something that we can pretty much bank on getting at least a few big surprises. This could be it. If you’re doubting it, just think of the titles Petra has won where you doubted her coming in. The only problem with this reason is if we think she is due it’s kind of like expecting something big. I don’t mean it that way; just that we haven’t gotten to a final yet. It has to happen eventually.

3. Nobody is giving her a chance to win it= no pressure

I don’t care what people say, this one is totally true and if you’re expecting her to win it judging on her year so far then I don’t know what to tell you. She is seeded 11^th here for Christ sake. I don’t remember the last time she didn’t have a top 10 seed for a slam so that should tell you everything you need to know. This is good for Petra. Not necessarily draw wise but pressure wise. Hopefully this will relax her a bit knowing that she won’t get as many of these type of questions during the week for a change. Of course she’ll still get it more than most just because of her recognition but it won’t be as much as the past I can tell you that. Even if she does, it’s only because reporters won’t have better questions to ask. She won’t have to feel like she is supposed to lead the pack and can focus on her own game and let everyone else take the heat. Maybe it’ll lead to her swooping in for the win.

4. The current WTA around her isn’t in a consistent state at the moment.

This one doesn’t have to do with her really but it gives her a better chance than most years because of how unreliable any of the top players have been this year for the most part. It’s not like Petra has been anything close to consistent either this year yet but I’m just saying the draw has bigger potential to crumble and if Kvitty finds a way to stay consistent, she could take advantage and go deep here. I’m also not saying that draws matter for her much but it still wouldn’t hurt if she didn’t have to play anyone that has caused her trouble like Aga, Angie, CSN, Simo, etc.

5. She has made a deep run here before.

Take this one with a grain of salt because it was way back in 2012 when she made the SFs and since then she hasn’t reached the QFs. Still, it’s not like she hasn’t proved herself here before and at this slam especially it’s nice to have any kind of successful experience. I wouldn’t put your hope on this reason being the one to have faith in her chances, I’m just pointing it out because she can get there.

Five Reasons why Kvitty won’t win in Paris

1. Her current form is not near a grand slam title level.

Petra has had a rough year we can’t avoid it. It all started with an early loss in the first slam of the year in Australia and kept going downhill from there. The only real positives to this year so far have been her QF run in Indian Wells and SF in Stuttgart. There have been hints of greatness during this clay season, notably Stuttgart but Madrid left us back to where we started with more questions after that seemed to be her best chance to succeed on clay again.  The best we can do is hope but like I said you can’t expect it. There are higher odds she won’t win than will and until she proves us her level is back near the top, she’s not quite ready to take the big leap towards this title.

2. She has injury concerns.

Coming into Madrid she had to deal with an abdominal injury and she said she couldn’t practice until Saturday before the tournament started. So the third round exit doesn’t look as bad but it still makes you wonder… after an early loss in Rome, how is it going to hold up in Paris? The best news out of that loss was it gives her more time to heal it however bad it is which nobody really knows but her and her team. I’m thinking it has been getting better over the past week and will keep improving this week. We won’t know anything about it unless it pops up during a match which I hope we won’t have to worry about. Severity doesn’t usually matter because if it’s there in any form, it could limit her enough to cause her trouble at any time. That’s a good enough reason to lose a match and this is the one way I don’t want to see her go out.

3. Recent appearances here have not been good.

Her good run was in the positives section but there have been more bad runs than good ones so that’s why it has to be addressed again. The last three years after that SF have been full of disappointments and it makes you scratch your head sometimes because we know she isn’t a terrible clay court player. Her game is suited for all surfaces. I give her credit in 2014 for an incredible fight against Kuznetsova in a tough loss in which she probably would’ve beat many others. However 2013 was very ugly and 2015 was ok but she had to work much harder than necessary to get where she ended up. And she basically was nowhere to be found after the first set in her loss to Timea Bacsinszky last year. You can’t know what to expect but based on the last few years, that alone is a concern to happen again.

4. She is just as much as of threat to lose very early as to win it all.

This goes along perfectly with the first reason in the last section. She can blow anyone away, but could just as easily put in a miserable performance against even the lowest opponents to send her home packing way earlier than expected. A good example in Paris would be her loss to Jamie Hampton in 2013 where she was the clear favorite, but got destroyed after losing a tight first set. She isn’t supposed to bend over to a player like that but it happened. Nobody knows when it’s coming but at the same time nobody is surprised when it happens either. So you can decide what you think we are going to get this year. It’s going to be one or the other, nothing in between most likely. Prepare yourself.

5. Last event before grass, how much motivation?

Before you question this one, deep down you’ll know the reasoning is pretty accurate. I am not saying at all that Petra won’t be motivated to win this title. I mean if she’s not then what is she doing there? I mean it’s a grand slam she’ll be focused. I am just saying we all know how much she loves the grass and does anything she can to compliment it and show her excitement for Wimbledon. Who could blame her with her amazing success there? That being said, I don’t think this will be the end of the world for her no matter what round she loses in. I think her biggest slams of the year honestly are in Melbourne and Wimbledon. The other two she goes to play and hopes for the best and that can be a good and bad thing. This reason just happens to be a bad one. As fans, this is a small positive to if she loses here, that grass is next and greatness has a much better chance to appear.

Thanks for reading and look out for the Simo version of this article tomorrow! I’m open to discussion about your own reasons for either side if you have them!

Pojd Kvitty!

Reliving a Trip of a Lifetime; Attending the 2016 Miami Open

Hello everyone! Last year I had the opportunity to experience the Miami Open in Key Biscayne for the first time in my life for five days. What an experience it was. It made me realize I had to come back again ASAP and this year I did something I couldn’t have imagined would happen so soon but I made it work: attending this great event for nearly the whole two weeks. 12 days to be exact; including my first ever final on the WTA side. It was absolutely incredible. The best part was Petra was here this time after sadly skipping it last year due to fatigue and needing a mental break from tennis. No event is the same without her. That was the only negative of last year but all was well this time! I will try to recap all of my greatest moments here, any fun stories while on the trip, what it was like to be here for an amazing 12 days, and anything else I can think of! Hope you enjoy reading!

First a quick background for you, I stayed about an hour and 15 minutes from the park and with the traffic it added up to about 1.5 hours every day there and back. Compared to Cincy where the drive is only about 20 minutes for me every day. I don’t know how many of you do something like this when you are attending live events but it’s not something I see people do often. I told some fans here about this and they were stunned I would do that. Some people within a half hour of Miami even wouldn’t dare to tackle that traffic everyday like that it’s so rough. The traffic in Miami is one of the worst in the country and that was easily the toughest part of every day. I’m a good driver though no worries. Doesn’t mean that everyone else there is though 😉

Not much changed from last year regarding the scenery, player access, practice schedule chaos and such and most of that is never a bad thing. As always, coming in my mind was set on getting to see as much of my favorites up close as possible and I think I accomplished that mission in a huge way. I saw at least one of them every single day except the first day and the last so it definitely made the trip that much more enjoyable. One of the funniest things about coming every day was some of the staff members especially the parking and ticket people started to recognize me pretty easily. Like every day I came through it was “back again?” Or “Welcome back nice to see you again!” I brought the same stuff every day a little green bag and a camera so it wasn’t the hardest to spot me out I guess.

One of my favorite parts of last year was media day and how close I got to be to Simo as she did various interviews; most of which were funny and interesting so plenty of smiles were involved. This year was no different. This is a very rare time at an event where you get to be up close to players where they aren’t so serious practicing or playing a match and just relaxing and talking and having a good time. It’s quite exciting to watch and just in case you didn’t know, Kvitty and Simo are every bit as relaxed, beautiful and smiley as they seem on TV 🙂

Two moments stood out on this day that were pretty hard to describe how amazing they were but I’ll try. First, right before media day started at about 11 I was walking around looking at the practice courts for my faves because that’s what I always do during a lot of my time. Like last year, the practice schedule was nowhere to be found anywhere so you basically had to walk around to every court every hour to have a chance to find someone you wanted to see practicing. There’s two sections of practice courts, one near the entrance and one way across towards the back of the park so they were far apart. It just created much more work for people to walk all of that way back and forth. That’s the one huge flaw this event has but to give them credit, it was only for the first 4 days or so. Then they had the schedule viewable to the public.

Anyway, the first story. Like I said I was walking around the practice courts and all of a sudden I hear Simo’s grunt and I’m like really… Looking at the time it was just about 11 so I figured I missed all of it. I literally stopped in my tracks and ran over there and sure enough, just as I got there they were walking off. So I found an open spot by the gate where they come out and since there weren’t too many fans around, I got a selfie. That’s never happened and I never expected to get a selfie from a fave after missing their whole practice but that’s how it went and I’m not complaining. (Well I would’ve liked to see some of the practice at least) Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good as they say.

During media day another moment I’ve dreamed about for the longest time happened for a brief moment.  Kvitty was the first to do her interviews and I was watching her do them and it was of course mesmerizing to watch, and I quick turn around a little to the right of me and pretty much right next to me Simo is standing there! No warning! Kvitalep were so close to each other and I was right in the middle of it bye. She went upstairs shortly after but I have to say that alone was worth the trip. I was screaming inside and not breathing I’m not kidding. You just have to know me and something like that does not come around often if ever. Even if it was for a second.

I also watched Petra practice that day which was great as always. The stunning part was that she practiced with Genie that day and she’s probably at the bottom of the list of people you’d expect Petra to practice with but it happened. It was just a bit awkward I have to say… Not very long after that I saw fed practice on stadium court and what a delight that was. It was funny because Lucie was on before him and at the end of her practice while she was still hitting, fed came on and the crowd roared and she was laughing because it just happened suddenly. They passed each other later and there may have been some other words exchanged who knows. As for Roger’s practice, it was great to see him back in action after a couple months missed due to a knee injury sustained after the Australian Open. This practice was the highlight of my experience with him here because I didn’t get to see much else of him sadly the rest of the event after he pulled out of his first match with a stomach virus. He was crisp, moving great and happy, he put on a nice show for the fans.

 

I had many selfies during this event and the perfect day regarding selfies came on the third day when I got selfies with Kvitty, Simo, and Lucie. All came out pretty good I have to say. Kvitty and Lucie practiced together that day and I was a bit surprised I could get pics with both considering it doesn’t always work that way if they come out at the same time. I also told Petra about me being in the fan book she got for her birthday and she smiled and said it was very nice. We knew that but I doubt she expected someone in it to say something to her about it so soon after she read it. I was just glad to put a smile on her face because she put so many on mine 🙂

The next day was the first match day for Kvitty and Simo but I think those will all be separate articles like I’ve been doing since those are a whole different story. But it’s always an amazing experience seeing those two play live, it is such a joy. Win or lose it’s a dream come true.

The best day of the whole tournament I have to say was the exact day I could’ve hoped it would be; my birthday. I was hoping before it started that Kvitty and/or Simo could’ve played on it but neither did which was fine since it probably was better they didn’t considering what happened. The beginning of the day was a bit strange because I thought Petra’s practice was at 11 so I started to go over to her court at about 10:45 but checked the practice schedule again just to make sure. In yet another misunderstanding it was actually from 10-1130 so it wasn’t the end of the world since I could see the second half of it still, but I was just a bit annoyed that I missed some of it again.

Anyway, I watched her practice and it was easily the best one I saw of the week as she was laughing constantly with her relaxed and goofy team. When it’s not a match day you can expect a little more of this and it didn’t disappoint. My favorite part was when they threw around a nerf football and Petra threw it over the fence and they lost it. Boy that got some great laughs 🙂 Most of you know what happened after but I can’t ever say it enough how happy and amazed I was during it all. I came into the day hoping I could get a birthday wish from her and I told her it was my birthday and she did indeed wish me a happy birthday and then I had a picture of her and she was very nice to write happy birthday on that I was just speechless pretty much. After she signed it I was too out of it and in awe to get a selfie but that didn’t matter. I tried to take a video of her doing something else after it was over and if you ever see it, you can tell how much I’m shaking because I still couldn’t believe what happened.

I could’ve tried to tweet her for a birthday wish and probably wouldn’t have got it, and even if I did it wouldn’t have been anything close to as special as one in person. Like I said I will never be grateful enough I had the opportunity to do this; the fact I could even see her hitting and smiling right in front of me on my birthday was such a great gift already. She is such a wonderful human being as I already knew to take the time to do those things for me, to make a dream come true. It’s so normal for her to be nice but we appreciate it so much for every little thing she does because she never has to be perfect for everybody, it’s just in her nature.  I can look at this photo forever and remember exactly what happened and remember it actually did happen, it wasn’t a dream. My year had been made thanks to her and usually she makes it anyway. I want to praise her much more but can’t because it would take way too long 🙂

Simo practiced later in the day and I tried the exact same thing but there were much more people so I didn’t say it because it wouldn’t feel like the right moment. I got the picture I wanted most signed though by her and that was her gift to me 🙂 I received two perfect birthday presents.

Last but not least about this day, I want to say thank you again to every single person who wished me a happy birthday it means a lot. I am lucky to be a part of such great fandoms and not just for Kvitty and Simo but everyone else on tennis twitter that I’ve gotten to know. You make it all more exciting for me and I’m thankful there are people who are so kind enough to say nice things to me and I always want to do the same for you when I get the chance. Much love to all of you 🙂

It was kind of a surreal feeling once we got to the second week because pretty much every event is only a week long besides slams and these in March. Plus, the longest I ever stayed at a tournament was five days so when I woke up on the second Monday it was quite a feeling to have another week of tennis left. Not all of my faves were still there but more tennis is never a bad thing. I have to say it was a bit tougher walking around the grounds once Petra was no longer there but I knew this wasn’t her best event and she might not be there long. The week I had with her was everything I could ever wanted.

The hardest day of the week for me besides my last day of the trip was the day after Simo lost and I had no more faves left. In fairness, I was happy with nine days with them and I can’t say I totally expected that many so I was satisfied. However, it stung walking around the grounds without any of them to look forward to. They make every event even better and it was just kind of an empty feeling. Also by this point all of the practice courts were pretty much empty most of the day and that was depressing too. When you know the end is near… but at least there was still great tennis to be played for those that were left!

The last part I want to share with you is my last day which was the day of the women’s final. I had never been to a final before so I thought it would be cool to try it once even probably knowing that neither of my faves were going to be in it. I’m an optimistic person yes but with their form not quite where it needs to be yet, it was hard to expect it. I didn’t care because I knew it’d be fun either way. The only weird thing was there was a possibility that my drive there could be longer than the actual final and I think the final was only a few minutes longer. Knowing who was in it and how the two players were playing, the result never surprised me as Vika was on a mission and wasn’t going to let Sveta get another upset. It was clear from the beginning she would win in straights as most could expect. She gave a nice speech after she won and I congratulate her for a spectacular month of March. Her matches against Garbine and Angie were the best ones I saw here so I’m glad she was able to play well throughout this event.

Then, the saddest part of the whole trip was leaving Crandon Park for the last time and knowing I wouldn’t be back for a whole year and that’s a maybe. Still, the memories that were created for me during these two weeks were unforgettable. I had a brilliant run here and I knew it would end eventually no matter I didn’t want it to. I lived the dream. That’s as best as I can say. I saw the top players in the world play and my favorite people right in front of my eyes as I dream every day. I only hope other fans can experience something like this because you all deserve it. I thank all of my friends on twitter who experienced this ride through me and all of my favorites who gave me things so hard to imagine. It wasn’t all about the results, you just have to hope for the best in that regard. Seeing their personalities up close and their friendliness is what mattered most. I got it all.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and hope you all get to experience your favorites in the near future and enjoy them like I did!