So. Much. Tennis. That's how I feel after making it through two and a half days worth of the US Open. Last year we did Friday and Saturday at the Open, and this year we did the same, with matches on Thursday night as a bonus. While I tend to tire of sitting and watching tennis sooner than Shira, even I have to admit, we had a pretty amazing time. Here are some Best Of moments from the time we were there:
View Photos: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
- Best Point: The wrap-around-the-net-shot by Gasquet, in the Gasquet vs. Tomic match, in the second set. Here's video of the point: Note the fist-bump between the two after the point finished.
- Best Match: No doubt, it was the Nadal vs. Fognini match. To see the staggeringly unlikely comeback of Fognini was just too amazing. The match ended around 1:30am. The stat I found most remarkable is this one:
Nadal had a 151-0 record when he won the first two sets of any best-of-five match.
Oh yeah, in the 5th set there were 7 consecutive breaks of serve, which like the rest of the match, was remarkable. That's the thing about sitting down to these early matches in the Open: you just never know what the outcome may be. - Best display of player frustration: Also from the Nadal vs. Fognini match, was Fognini elegantly bouncing his racket off the ground, as captured here. He then continued to play with said racket. Runner up: watching Marin Cilic smash his racket just a few feet from us. Must have felt great.
- Best Comeback: that would belong to Serena Williams in the Williams vs. Mattek-Sands match. She lost the first set and was down in the second set, and then came roaring (in many shots, literally so) back to crush Mattek-Sands with a 6-0 third set.
- Best Moment: this one is captured by these two photos: photo 1 and photo 2. At the same time Novak Djokovic was on court, Federer, Serena and Nadal were practicing on the courts directly behind the stadium. To see all 4 of these greats at one time and place was really something special.
- Best Shirt Change: Ahhh, the shirt change. One of Tennis's traditions that the ladies can fully get behind. The winner for this one though, has to go to Caroline Wozniacki in the Wozniacki vs. Cetkovska match. Somehow she managed to change her outfit on center court without showing the least bit of skin. Very impressive. The runner up for this has to go to Lukas Rosol in the Rosol vs. Kohlschreiber match. Let's just say he's a remarkably fit man, and Shira didn't mind sitting a few rows back from him as he did a shirt change.
- Best First Impression: this one goes to the Rosol vs. Kohlschreiber match, and not just for the shirt change mentioned above. We walked through the US Open gates, and turned right into the first court with with a match on it. And there we sat, as these guys played professional grade tennis with us just a few feet away from them. Tennis courts are just so small, and the first week of the Open gives you a chance to see amazing players up close and personal.
- Best Food: The US Open does try to provide a fairly large number of food options, and they mostly succeed. Though the best thing I ate while I was there was the Ben and Jerry's Half Baked Ice Cream Bar. So delicious. Runner up: anything from the Kosher Grill, which gave me a chance to clog my arteries like the rest of the tennis fans on the grounds.
- Best Surprise: when our tickets arrived, Shira learned that we had tickets to the Hospitality Breakfast. We had no idea what this was, but figured we should seek it out. When we finally found the breakfast, we were shocked to discover it was an intimate, high quality affair. We're talking omelet stations and gourmet donuts. As if the food weren't enough, we also had a chance to meet and hear Tracy Austin speak, who at 16 became the youngest winner of the US Open. She still holds this distinction.
View Photos: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
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