Space for UM17’s updates from Miami.

LATEST UPDATE

Since the first match isn’t until 1pm today, I finally got to sleep in! Excellent. It’s really gotten pretty quiet around the park, so I’ll probably be brief.

One story I’d like to share: since the start of the tournament, there’s been a set of brother-sister twins and their father floating around as hitting partners for the players. Nobody seems to remember how they got the job, but every time a player is looking for someone to practice with we offer them up as a suggestion. Over the last two weeks they’ve probably had 30 or so sessions, and since the review usually comes back positive they go out again and again! Most of the time, it’s the boy that gets the job (even with female players); yesterday he hit with Virginie Razzano, Mikhail Youzhny, and finally Robin Soderling. Incredible, considering they just turned 17 two days ago!! Funniest thing was his reaction at the end of the day – Razzano=no problem, Youzhny=no problem, Soderling…just could not keep up. Apparently that man hits balls like bullets. Anyway, with the practice these guys are getting, I’ll be looking for them on the pro tour aaaany minute.

I watched both the Youzhny and Soderling practices for a bit – night and day. Youzhny seems like one of the chillest guys around, and his practice was that way too. He would hit some balls, chat with the coach, hit a few more…smile every now and then. His coach is a really friendly little guy. Robin, on the other hand, was all business. He had two guys (his coach and the 17 year old kid) across the net, and would fire off 30 shot rallys with them each time. It seems like the ultimate practice – all the balls come back! (I think they said Clijsters does the same thing.) The player has to keep getting to them, and the reaction time is like in doubles – lightning fast. I don’t think I heard Robin say 2 words in 15 minutes out there.

Got to see the Armada play their doubles for a while. It was great! I’ll share some pictures if I can. I’m not usually a doubs fan cuz it’s just a bunch of treetops serving and sticking their arms out, but these four really played tennis out there. Tommy and Nico were on fire! Feli and FeVer were alright, but didn’t seem too much in control out there, would miss a bunch of easy net points. It’s great to see guys moving around in doubles, makes it exciting!

One last tidbit – Rafa practiced for an hour before his match (most guys do half an hour). And, he didn’t get his favorite court. Apparently he doesn’t like practicing on the stadium, but whenever he goes out to the side courts the mobs are insane. I think they kept him corralled yesterday for crowd control. The change in ritual didn’t seem to put him too far out of his rhythm!

Well, that’s about it. I’m going back in a bit cuz I wheedled my way into an excuse to show up to “work,” so I can have access to the matches. In a strange turn of events, I really want to see how Berdych does this afternoon… Peace out, my faithful readers!

Oh yeah, two other tidbits from the Berdych-Verdasco match, that maybe you guys saw on TV:
– First, Verdasco randomly took off one of two socks he was wearing on his right foot (the innermost layer). Did anybody know these guys wore two socks? Then, he had a broken shoelace to attend to…hm. Costume malfunctions?
– Rafa came to watch the match for like 15 minutes from the players lounge. People threw him more balls to sign while he was there.

UM17 THURSDAY UPDATE

Since the first match isn’t until 1pm today, I finally got to sleep in! Excellent. It’s really gotten pretty quiet around the park, so I’ll probably be brief.

One story I’d like to share: since the start of the tournament, there’s been a set of brother-sister twins and their father floating around as hitting partners for the players. Nobody seems to remember how they got the job, but every time a player is looking for someone to practice with we offer them up as a suggestion. Over the last two weeks they’ve probably had 30 or so sessions, and since the review usually comes back positive they go out again and again! Most of the time, it’s the boy that gets the job (even with female players); yesterday he hit with Virginie Razzano, Mikhail Youzhny, and finally Robin Soderling. Incredible, considering they just turned 17 two days ago!! Funniest thing was his reaction at the end of the day – Razzano=no problem, Youzhny=no problem, Soderling…just could not keep up. Apparently that man hits balls like bullets. Anyway, with the practice these guys are getting, I’ll be looking for them on the pro tour aaaany minute.

I watched both the Youzhny and Soderling practices for a bit – night and day. Youzhny seems like one of the chillest guys around, and his practice was that way too. He would hit some balls, chat with the coach, hit a few more…smile every now and then. His coach is a really friendly little guy. Robin, on the other hand, was all business. He had two guys (his coach and the 17 year old kid) across the net, and would fire off 30 shot rallys with them each time. It seems like the ultimate practice – all the balls come back! (I think they said Clijsters does the same thing.) The player has to keep getting to them, and the reaction time is like in doubles – lightning fast. I don’t think I heard Robin say 2 words in 15 minutes out there.

Got to see the Armada play their doubles for a while. It was great! I’ll share some pictures if I can. I’m not usually a doubs fan cuz it’s just a bunch of treetops serving and sticking their arms out, but these four really played tennis out there. Tommy and Nico were on fire! Feli and FeVer were alright, but didn’t seem too much in control out there, would miss a bunch of easy net points. It’s great to see guys moving around in doubles, makes it exciting!

One last tidbit – Rafa practiced for an hour before his match (most guys do half an hour). And, he didn’t get his favorite court. Apparently he doesn’t like practicing on the stadium, but whenever he goes out to the side courts the mobs are insane. I think they kept him corralled yesterday for crowd control. The change in ritual didn’t seem to put him too far out of his rhythm!

Well, that’s about it. I’m going back in a bit cuz I wheedled my way into an excuse to show up to “work,” so I can have access to the matches. In a strange turn of events, I really want to see how Berdych does this afternoon… Peace out, my faithful readers!

TODAY’S UM17 UPDATE

So I’m running late to what will most likely be my last day at the Open, but things are quieting down as it is anyway. Fewer players means less work for me, more time watching, but also possibly less to say. I had a wonderful day of tennis yesterday, evening upset notwithstanding…

I was in the front row for Gonzo-Sod – that was an odd match! Fena was really off, as we know, in that first set. Nothing he tried seemed to work, whereas Sod was on as usual. The stadium was mostly full of Gonzo supporters, but a few would yell silly things like “Vamos Argentina” or cheer for “David,” “Alejandro” or even “Rafa.” At some point they got a talking to. Gonzo’s first staredown with the ref was pretty great – he just stood there glaring for what we all thought would be forever – so I told him, “No te preocupes!” Don’t know if anyone heard me, and it probably didn’t help too much. Either way, some huge hitting there.

Watched Rafa vs. Ferrer from the players’ box. Those were monsters out there, just insane amounts of power! I felt David needed just a little bit more to take control, he worked so hard it was really too bad only one guys won. About 15 minutes after the match, his coach came by to book a practice court…I really hope he didn’t feel bad about the loss – it was so tight, I hope he can take it in stride.

– Overheard Youzhny/Andreev and his buddies (they always seem to have buddies around) jokingly trying to figure out the rules of golf. I’m not sure they all got it…
– Was in the lounge before Fed and Berdy went out for their matches. Never appreciated how HUGE they both are. I’m not that tall of a person, maybe, but I think TV really masks how giant these people are.
– Spent the nearly 3 hrs of the last match with one of Fed’s Nike reps. Really nice guy, and a Fed fan. Confirmed that Roger really is a great guy, and that all the nice things we hear him say in the media are exactly how he thinks.
– Saw Mirka again, and for everyone’s reference: She is not fat. She was wearing some very very skinny jeans, and let me just say, she is a curvy woman, but not much more.

Now I’m really late! Uhoh…

LATEST UM17 UPDATE

I am taking up so much space on TP! I hope y’all aren’t sick of me yet… If nothing else, these posts will help me remember every juicy minute here. I was afraid I’d have nothing to say tonight, because the rain this morning was horrendous. I left my house around 11:00 (sunny) and by the time I got to the tennis center (11:30ish) it was raining again. Practices had been scheduled since 9ish, nobody had been on court in the morning and wouldn’t be until nearly 3pm! They tried to dry the courts 3 or 4 times before giving up (I helped!) and waiting for the radar to say it was clear for good.

As soon as the new schedule was out it was a mess of players renegotiating their courts and not understanding that they’d be given warm-up times after the first set of matches was under way. Those who were on first had an extended on-court warmup (10 minutes) instead of the customary 1/2 hour or more with their team. So just subtract their first few games – I’m sure nobody was ready to play.

“Keeping up with the Kardashians” was filming in the players’ lounge this afternoon. Perhaps, if you ever see this episode, you’ll catch a glimpse of a bunch of people in blue tshirts and khakis with ultra-confused faces half-glaring at the crowd busting through the doorway. I’m one of those people. Once the rain let up, there was so much great tennis going on at once that I missed a bunch of it. But, you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth: Fed, Wawrinka/Youzhny, Venus/Hantuchova, Radwanska/Shvedova, Gonzalez/Monaco, and finally in the wind and the cold (and in the 3rd row), Henin/Zvonareva. Pictures will follow at some point. Feds match was pretty “meh,” Wawri/Youzhny was intense except when Stan started running amok, Gonzalez/Monaco was well fought (and full of Chichichileans), and Henin/Zvonareva were actually quite awesome. I’ve never really appreciated women’s tennis before, but these girls hit HARD. And Henin’s backhand is a thing of beauty. Wowz.

Notables:
– Apparently Fed, Rafa (and probably others) have had just about enough of our fans down here. We know how gracious they usually are, but I guess folks in Miami barely let them walk.
– I went out for a second to watch Rafa practice. I’ve never seen anyone hit anything so hard. I feel sorry for those balls. He also didn’t stop scowling at his shots – I don’t know if he was really frustrated, or if that’s just his style.
– During the aforementioned practice, he popped a ball out of the court and people started grabbing at it. He asked for the ball back (“La bola, por favor!”) but I don’t think he got it back. You’d think it wouldn’t be a big deal, right? However: we ration the balls – only two new cans per practice. Hehe…
– The same time Verdasco was getting back from his match, the new schedule came out and the phones were off the hook. His crowd was so loud, we had to close the door. I’d just hung up on a call, when who bursts through the door, and asks me for a pen to sign a ball? Fernando himself. I handed it to him, personally.
– Ferru called again. The man speaks like a rain of bullets! I can barely say “Practice Courts!” before he’s asking to sign up for his warm-up before Rrrrafa Nadal.

Alright Teepsters, I’m exhausted. Pictures will follow at some point…good night!

It’s kind of embarrassing to have to scroll through so much of my blabber to get to the reply link…but I’m glad you guys seem to be enjoying it, so I’ll do one more. “After suitable rest,” I made it over to the stadium for the final day of men’s quarters and the women’s semis.

Venus was her usual self (those serves are nuts), Marion tried her best, but it really wasn’t enough. (Also, the Williamses have a bit of a bad reputation around here for traveling with a giant entourage.) Serena was around today, looking classy, but barely able to walk on her 6-inch chopstick heels. They did some photoshoot with her and what looked like giant football players trying to play tennis. Serena was on the sideline calling shots and giving pointers. I have a pic or two, which I’ll post if they don’t show up elsewhere.

I know you all will be annoyed with me, but I was quite happy with Mr. Berdman this afternoon. For someone reputed to be mentally fragile, I think he kept it together quite well. As his serve got better, and FeVer’s got worse, you could see the match turning around. Anyway, he’s been working hard for these wins, and I’m hoping he goes to the final. I stuck around for the Youzhny-Soderling match, and although I wasn’t terribly partial, I figured I’d go nationalistic – some of the random Russian shrieking from the nosebleeds was from me. I guess it didn’t help. Soderling dismantled poor Misha…

…which is really too bad for my 17 year hitting partner buddy. Youzhny had scheduled him to practice today, and turned down another kid offered to him by Federer’s agent! Too bad he probably won’t have another chance tomorrow.

I was trying to make my way out of the players center this afternoon, when the guy guarding the gate says to me, “Watch out, or you’ll get run over!” It was Rafa and his mob. I stood quietly by as he signed a last autograph or two and grudgingly posed for a picture. I’ve never seen him so exasperated…pobrecito. He turned around as quickly as he could, and beelined it to the door. Before this tournament, I may have been in that mob. Now that I’ve seen it from the inside, I think I’ll leave them alone. I love talented people as much as the next fangirl, but in the end I’d rather find some way to have a normal interaction.

For example: Lindsey Davenport has been around for the last few days doing something for TV, and has come by to chat and to book practice courts. She and Justin Gimelstob have just been hitting balls for fun – isn’t that nice? They wouldn’t have to lift a finger if they didn’t want to! She’s insaaaanely tall (compared to me) and incredibly friendly and down to earth. HEAR THAT TP? SHE’S A VERY NICE PERSON. And, she had funny stories to tell, including one about the time she and the Bryan brothers were in Beijing for the Olympics and had to find their way to the hotel without money, a cell phone, or a word of Chinese. Can you imagine what the three of them would have looked like, running around town?

Can’t think of anything else for the moment, but I’m grateful for my early night. I might just have to go back tomorrow to see Berdych-Soderling…that should be interesting.

Oh yeah, two other tidbits from the Berdych-Verdasco match, that maybe you guys saw on TV:
– First, Verdasco randomly took off one of two socks he was wearing on his right foot (the innermost layer). Did anybody know these guys wore two socks? Then, he had a broken shoelace to attend to…hm. Costume malfunctions?
– Rafa came to watch the match for like 15 minutes from the players lounge. People threw him more balls to sign while he was there.

NEW update from UM17

Wow, I’ve got quite a spotlight here! Glad you’re all enjoying the scoop…I had to go and check my paperwork to make sure I didn’t sign something that would get me in trouble for sharing. Oh, and, if you’re one of the people I’ve mentioned – and by some petrifying chance you’re reading this – sorry! You know where to find me.

Started my day off with a tour of the practice courts: Cilic and some guys I recognize but couldn’t name, Cibulkova, Azarenka, Kuznetsova. Headed over to Verdasco/Lopez v. Llodra/Ram – I guess the Armada won, but there were a few pretty silly net balls from FeVer for sure. Don’t know much about doubles, but it must be hard to switch to that kind of lightening rhythm! I didn’t realize Kim Kardashian was there, but after the match here is what I saw: a crowd of people around Verdasco, and a very large video camera. Now that I know who she is, here was part of their conversation – Fever: “So, what did you think?” Kim: “I loooved it! It was sooo exciting!” According to the body guards gossiping after they had all left, they’re hooking up now. Apparently this time last year, it was Wozniacki – did we know this? Another funny story: a girl walks up to my doorway, looking lost, and asks for a restroom. Assuming that she would have the same access I do, I used it as an excuse to take her up to the players’ lounge, but apparently she wasn’t allowed in there (I am, haha). On the way, I make conversation. “So have you seen anything you liked today?” “Um…yeaaaaah.” (Really? I see you’re a huge fan.) Google images makes me suspect that was Kourtney Kardashian.

Stan Wawrinka came by to watch our TV again – first set of Rafa v. Nalby. This time, I was bolder: “So, got any commentary for us?” He didn’t, but at least I got a smile. Also, when the screen showed Rafa taking about 48 seconds between points, Stan’s coach started to complain about it. Wawrinka says he wouldn’t mind the break, if he were playing. I understand now that the TV in the office is my greatest asset – later in the day, David Ferrer made it as far as the doorway, but turned around because my supervisor was switching over to the closed-circuit update screen. *Ack! So close!*

I used my break to go up to the stadium for Nadal/Nalbandian. I got there about halfway through the tiebreak, saw the second set, and was there again for the end of the 3rd. So yeah, wow. I think these guys move faster than I can think! TV just doesn’t do them justice. Miami is always packed with Latin Americans, so the tennis fans are a funny bunch. With Fed v. Lapentti, there was definitely more “Vamos, Nicolas!” than there were cheers for Roger; I’d say the Spanish/Argentina fans were about evenly split. Loved watching Ferrer and Karlovic on the side court – it’s pure insanity to be so close to the action! When I watch these guys on video, it seems like they’re putting on a show for the camera. But out there, especially in that gigantic stadium, they look so lonely and small. The evening matches (Jankovic vs. Vesnina, Tsonga vs. Kohlschreiber) weren’t full and were very quiet; I can’t imagine feeling all those silent stares on my back! Crazy stuff.

So that was my Sunday. The woman who takes care of the seeded players’ practice courts came by a bunch of times in the evening to negotiate, and it was a little disappointing to hear about some of our favorites being picky. Some players just won’t budge from their favorite courts, absolutely need a certain time even though they’re not playing that day, or are annoyed having to go through crowds on their way. It’s also fun listening to the background stories and politics in the tennis world from the people who’ve been in the industry for a while. Sorry, but if I write everything, I’d probably miss today’s action.

The weather Monday morning is terrible. We were spared yesterday, but it looks like rain at least where I am. Wish us luck! Pictures following in a separate comment.

Well it looks like the sun is out again – you never know in this town!! Here is my photographic evidence from Sunday! Until next time…

UM17

Miami update! It’s totally surreal, this brush with celebrity. The funniest thing is when I think about how many hours I’ve devoted to watching these people on video, analyzed what they’ve done, come on here and discussed, their personal lives, their careers…and there they are just walking around as if they were regular people. Sigh.

So I spent the day assigning practice courts and handing out balls to the players – sadly, the top seeds are handled by a special office, so I’m not likely to do business with any of them. I might have a chance to work a different position later, but probably not. We’ll see. Even so, my eyes were the size of dinner plates. From my desk, I have pretty much a straight shot of all of them as they go out to play on any of the courts (not stadium). I deal with their coaches a lot – Zeballos’s guy kept losing things and coming back to us. I started the day eavesdropping on Youzhny and his buddies, then FeVer stood outside the window chatting and posing for photos for about 1/2 an hour…who else? Caught a glimpse of Rafa, his partner and Bryans heading out for their match, oof, the list really goes on. Ivanovic, Kuznetsova, Simon (poor thing), Henin, De Bakker (love him!), tons of doubles people.

Spoke to Ferrer on the phone, was too scared to whip out the Spanish. What if I said something wrong?!? One player was very rude and demanding when I told him some courts were not available…not going to name any names, don’t worry, it’s nobody we love around here. Wawrinka stepped in for about 5 minutes to watch the Murray-Fish match on our screen…I racked my brains for something to say – fail. When some guy called him “Stan the Man” and informed me that Stan had just had a baby, all I could manage was “Oh, I know!” Sigh #2.

But here’s what really gave me a heart attack: so I go upstairs to the players’ lounge, and who is sitting there, bold as brass, with his team? Roger Federer – comfy red and black warmups, wet hair, clean shave, and all. I did the most awkward thing I possibly could have: I turned right around and nearly headed out of the room. Then, I took a deep breath, grabbed a chair about 15 feet away from his table, and tried not to stare. I can’t remember the last time I was that nervous. When I came back later, Fed had left but Mirka was there with Mary Jo Fernandez & her kids. Mirka’s gorgeous, by the way.

Watching the match live was wonderful, but we know how that is. Here are some pics to prove I was there!