An Ode To Mark

An Ode To Mark V2
The Return

Shooz’s US Open 2001 Report

Since the tragic happenings of September 11^th it has taken me a while to finish my US Open Trip Report. I am very hopeful that the tragic events of that day will make us a stronger nation.

Tuesday, 08/28/01 - Day 1 @ the US Open was a hot, humid day. My friend Joan & I arrived at the Park Central Hotel, hurried to get our room & to the bus out to Flushing Meadows. We booked our hotel thru Sports Travel Plus (1-212-906-1406) which advertises on the US Open website & is affiliated with Head sports equipment. It is the easiest way to get your hotel and transportation to the Tennis Center plus a breakfast as well. I would highly recommend them to anyone next year for the Open as they have been doing this for 11 years. We arrived at the Tennis Center around noon & the heat was brutal. The sky was blue as could be and happy for us no rain in site. The first week at the Open is the best because so many players to choose to see can be tuff on the fan. We saw Jen Capriati practice & she looked really good and very fit. I was thrilled to see Grosjean but sad to hear walking around that he lost to Zabaleta even though I knew he was a tuff player. The outer courts were very filled this year and I wouldn’t be surprised if they announced record crowds at the Open in 2001. Juan Carlos & Arnaud DiPasquale’s match was really tight and I thought he might be out of the tourney very early but he came thru in the end. Arazi’s 5 set match was unreal & the crowds of people around the small court he played on proved that, screaming when he finally did win! Andre Agassi was practicing and god, I could feel the heat just beating down on me. Non-the-less I took lots of photos since he is one of the most popular players & if u ever saw him in person, you will know why. He jokes with Brad & the crowd and just makes it a fun experience for everyone. Getting back to the Hotel around 8pm we were happy to get a rest out of the sun. On our bus to the hotel we got the chance to hear Nick Bollettieri’s comments about new things he is doing for the game, which includes a tennis channel (about time!) & also instruction for high school kids and those who cannot get to his academy. He came across to me as very nice, friendly guy who is definitely in the sun a bit too much. He then took questions from the fans on the bus and gave his thoughts on Anna’s injury, Pete’s career and if Andy Roddick is for real. It was a nice treat for sure and made the ride to Manhattan go very quickly. We didn’t have USA Network in our hotel due to new ownership so went to bed early hoping Andy would win that night in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Day 2 is tomorrow and we need our rest!!!

Wednesday, 08/29/01 - Wondering how anyone can handle the Open all day & night is what I did prior to today. Pat Rafter was playing in the evening & well if we missed him this time, if he does retire, we may never see him again. Our minds were wondering if it was going to be a 24-hour US Open day.

In looking at the schedule for the day, we first headed to see Carlos Moya and Mardy Fish. Carlos was not someone I really was a fan of till I saw him last year at the Open. He is quite adorable in person. Court 11 was packed but well worth me pushing my way in for some photos. Goran was on Louis Armstrong and that was was a must match for us to see. Goran looked great and that serve is amazing in person. Justine Henin is very small in person but does hit that ball pretty well. Her match with Patty Schnyder went 3 sets & we saw some good stuff before Goran came out. We saw some of Arantxa and Ai Sugiyama with a great multi-colored Nike outfit that I had to get a photo of. Martina Hingis was in Armstrong stadium so we went to see her a bit but since I am not a huge fan, seeing her hit in person didn’t help matters. She just seems to hit with such less power than the other girls & I don’t see her remaining number 1 much longer. Sorry Hingis fans but she needs some major re-vamping of her game. Nick Bollettieri agreed on our bus ride home as well. Agassi practiced again and this time we were a bit closer than before. My friend Joan was so happy he was on the outside court so we could see him she wanted to tell him so after he was done. So down she ventured down near the court and before I knew it, couldn’t see Joan, just tonz of people. Then I see Andre signing for fans and next thing I know, Joan comes out of nowhere with “I got Andre’s autograph”! Pretty kool considering she wasn’t planning on getting it in the first place. He signed her draw sheet so she will always know what date it was which is nice. Still thinking however of Rafter and no signs of him anywhere, they said he practiced on enclosed courts on Tuesday. So we were about to leave & someone heard us talking about the evening match, not having seats but wanting to go. They said they had tickets for courtside & couldn’t go. They gave them to us. To say we were happy was an understatement. God likes us. He really does. We couldn’t believe it. Our first night match in Arthur Ashe with Seles up first then Rafter with seats where the players friends/family sits. To say the view from courtside is much better than nosebleed is being generous. It is amazing. It seems like a different court to be honest. The electricity was great & the night got cooler, perfect for tennis. Monica was great and very quick which I figured she would be. After he match, we saw former NYC mayor David Dinkins with Mary Jo Fernandez leave, who are good friends of hers. Next thing we knew, there came Patrick’s group, Lara and his coach, brother and other friends/family. Lara is skinny beyond words. I personally didn’t think it looked very healthy but she does have a very pretty face. She does play with her hair a lot during the match, which I thought was funny. Patrick initially was having a tuff time and I swore, a member of the guy’s family he was playing was behind us cuz he kept screaming every time the other guy made a good point. Very annoying to us Patrick fans.

But needless to say, Pat pulled out a win around 10pm just when our bus was ready to take us back to the hotel. The day was one of the best ever at Flushing Meadows for me and my friend, now I know why those stay for the evening sessions. It is so relaxing and you can just sit and watch the matches, not running around to see what other players are out there. Highly recommend an evening match to any fan asap. J

Thursday, 08/30/01 - Our last day at the Open was going to be an early one. We got to the tennis center for 11am and were planning to leave at 4pm so we could get an earlier bus ride home. Our choice of players today wasn’t too huge, although we did want to see Andy Roddick practice badly. Andre was playing in Arthur Ashe but since we had already seen him the previous 2 days, wasn’t a big deal to us. Tim Henman was in the Grandstand but we tried to get in too late and no seats were available in that small, excellent stadium. He wasn’t a big fave of mine anyhow but never did see him before, guess this year wasn’t going to be the time either. Hicham Arazi was on Armstrong and I really wanted to see him as he is a fave of mine. He plays with such intensity and well, he’s just a fun guy to watch. We got great seats from our usher friend and watched a few sets of his match. He talks to himself a lot and I think cursing in his language which was just soo funny!! He is a original character, for sure!! Marcelo Rios was playing on Court 11 and I did get to see him but no photos as sooo crowded, seemed very crowded today not really sure why. We had heard Andy Roddick was practicing in enclosed courts but it was his bday and he was getting a cake from USA Network’s Michael Barkann. So we stood there with thousands of other screaming fans till he finally came out. It was unreal. Tonz of fans crushing each other isn’t my idea of fun but I can say I got thru it. We were then told we were going to be in a segment on USA Network but they didn’t know what time it would be on. So Andy got his gift, I did get a picture of that, and a cake and signed some autographs. He gave his sweaty towel to some kid, not sure if girl or boy, then signed it for him/her as well. It touched my face and sorry but all I could think of was ICKKKYY!! Now if it was Rafter’s sweaty towel, that would be another story! He seemed very nice and willing to sign for everyone that was there. So I called my parents at home and said to keep watching USA all night cuz we would be on tv. Sure enough, around 6pm they showed the segment. So all and all our last day at the Tennis Center was a fun one. We headed home and I arrived around 830pm to turn on USA Network and watch, what else, MORE TENNIS!! See, when u are die hard like my friend and I, you can never get enough. How many more days till US Open 2002?

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