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Surprising day and a cream tea

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Scones Long

We got an early start on the July 4th holiday and watched the end of the live coverage with a cream tea. Interesting day. Rafa won as expected, but a lot of my faves lost. The most surprising loss was Petra Kivtova. (Podj, Kvitova!) Also lost to the tournament was Sharapova, Goffin, Ferrer, Verdasco, Sock, and the French Open finalist Dominic Thiem. Dominic did lose to veteran favorite Marcos Baghdatis. I remember our first Wimbledon. I watched Baghdatis for 4 hours on court 2. I somehow was able to sit just two rows back. I can’t even describe how “in the match” you really feel when you are that close. That is the magic of Wimbledon, to be able to see tennis at that level that close.  And all for the price of a grounds pass – a Wimbledon grounds pass, that is a great deal. I’ll save you my opinion of the cost of US Open tickets for this year.

So, not much to report on today, so on to tomorrow.

First match on Center Court is Pliskova Azarenka. That is my match of the day. I’m going to have to get up early on the holiday to see that. And the men’s doubles start. Mike Bryan is pairing up with Jack Sock while Bob recovers. It should be a pretty routine day, I’m not thinking any upsets tomorrow, and a good thing because I can’t take anymore after today.

And the Lanson is popped, the pasties cooked, and we are settling in to see the Tennis Channel replay of the day. See you tomorrow.

 

Wimbledon Fortnight Begins

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Pop that Lanson Champagne! Raise that Pimm’s Cup! Wimbledon is here again!

We have our British provisions to celebrate our favorite time of year. And what a year 2018 will be.

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the Best Match Ever Played, the 5 set amazing battle of Rafa and Federer. And the even more amazing thing is that these two are still at the top of the game and we could see a rematch of that final. Could we be that lucky?

And there are 6 moms playing in the women’s draw this year, two of them I’m happy to see back because the game is better with them, Serena and Vika.

Let’s not forget Venus either. At 38 she is ranked 9 for the tournament and the defending finalist. Venus is constantly flying under the radar and her fight, brilliant positive attitude and overall athleticism needs to be brought to light.

So as ESPN’s coverage starts, the first story of the day is Federer is NOT wearing Nike. He has inked a deal with Uni Qlo for 10 years. It’s definitely strange not seeing the swoosh stamped across his forehead, and no RF logo. Let’s stay tuned to see if the logo pops back up somewhere…

As coverage ends, it was an exciting day, only one big upset with Sloane Stephens getting knocked out, but great tennis. Stan Wawrinka was able to get past Grigor Dimitrov in what should have been one of those matches that you say “how did those two end up playing on day one?”. But once Stan dug in, Grigor just went away.

Day two brings us Rafa, the defending Women’s champion, Muguruza, and the continued comeback of Novak Djokovic. The ones I’m tuning in for Kerber and the return of Vera Zonareva. Two of my favorites. And on the men’s side the veteran Fernando Verdasco and the upcoming American Francis Tiafoe. Keep an eye on Tiafoe. He will dominate in the near future.

Happy Fortnight and talk with you again tomorrow. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tennis Easter Eggs – Ocean’s Eight

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Someone in this movie is a tennis fan!

We went to see Ocean’s 8 last weekend and had a great surprise. There were three tennis easter eggs in this movie. An easter egg in a movie is a little inside joke or reference. So, SPOILER ALERT, if you don’t want to know what they are, stop reading…

Ocean’s 8 is about a group of criminals who pull a heist at the annual Met Gala. Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief, chairs this event.

In one scene, a Met Gala staff enters Anna Wintour’s office to ask her a question. And you see Ms. Wintour wave her off and tell her to take care of it while she is watching her computer. From the computer you hear John McEnroe’s voice describe Roger Federer’s brilliance with his signature “You cannot be serious”. If there is one thing a tennis fan knows is that Anna Wintour is a HUGE Roger Federer fan. I mean, who can blame her – he is amazing. Egg 1

As the guests are walking the red carpet, all sorts of fashion and entertainment reporters are stopping the celebrities for short interviews. One fabulous woman to be stopped and interviewed, Serena. Egg 2

After the heist occurs, all of the guests are evacuated out of the gala. You see all of them rumbling about what is going on and one fierce attendee questions why they have to leave, Maria Sharapova – not to be outdone by her rival. Egg 3.

This just shows that tennis is a world and well known sport. It has all of the buzz that other sports have and can pop up at any time, anywhere. So, if you get a chance to see the movie, keep an eye out.

Wheel of Fortune – Tennis Week

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Rafa fixedThis week is Tennis Week on Wheel of Fortune. I caught some of it and they did it up right. They have all sorts of video clips of Tennis stars introducing the show and prizes. Coco, Kevin Anderson, Lindsay Davenport and even ROGER FEDERER! to name a few.

Every contestant has their own tennis story and the puzzles are tennis phrases. There are all sorts of tennis themed trips for them to win. Trips to Indian wells and even the ATP year end finals in London.

But they aren’t forgetting the viewers either. Watch the show, remember the Bonus Round Puzzle Solution, go to wheeloffortune.com  and enter the contest using the solution from that day. The prize… a trip to Indian Wells… one of the best tournaments out there – the best after the slams. Check out my trip to Indian Wells.

So, good luck on the contest, and I have got to get on the show next year!

Thank you, Judy Murray!

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Judy Murray Post

I’m not the biggest reader, so when I do get through a book, it’s one I really want to read. I just finished up Judy Murray’s Knowing the Score. This book is two tales of one extraordinary woman. One we are familiar with, Andy and Jamie’s mom/coach, but the other, pioneering female coach, Scottish tennis advocate, and champion for women in tennis, is a much lesser known story.

What I don’t think most people know about Judy Murray is that she too was a professional tennis player. And all of her life has had a tremendous love for the sport. So naturally she wanted to share this sport with her family and her community. She started on her path to expand Scottish tennis and teach the sport to her community, but she was unfortunately living in a time when women just didn’t become coaches and tennis just wasn’t valued. Judy Murray battled her way to break through gender barriers and financial challenges to become one of the most successful coaches in tennis today.

Because of her hard work, the UK has had one of the most successful men’s singles and doubles players as well as a thriving tennis culture and a group of successful British women players. It all focuses on keeping children engaged in sport and having fun while they gain the skills that will launch them into a complete player. She has laid the base for these opportunities with her Miss-Hits and Tennis on the Road programs.

British sport has honored her, but she is still one very internationally under recognized woman, but one tennis and sport should be very thankful for. She is a very humble woman. I really don’t think she realizes the positive addition she has been in the tennis world.

I hope one day, she is more widely known for her work, and I hope one day I can get a chance to see her speak in person here in the states. Being a female tennis fan, club player, and weekend athlete, I would like to say thank you to her for all she has done. She truly has added so much to sport. And I also hope that you get a chance to read this book and see what she has added to the tennis and sporting world, and what it took for her to do so.

Hello New York

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NY Open Ball 2

This past weekend we took the trip up to New York for the inaugural New York Open! The singles final featured American Sam Querrey and South African Kevin Anderson. The doubles final featured Mirnyi/Oswald and Koolhof/Sitak.

Querrey Anderson2

Singles Coin Toss

The national anthem was sung, the coin was tossed, and Fergus Murphy, chair umpire, announced play…Kevin started strong and breaking Sam early, but Sam fought back to take the 1st set. Again Kevin started strong in the second set and was serving for the set Sam fought back and started to close the gap, but Kevin was too good this set and took it. It was neck and neck in the last set and went to 6-6. The tournament was going to be decided by a tie break. Kevin jumped out of the gate and took it to 5-0. Sam dropped an F-bomb and smashed the tar out of his racquet – very unlike the cool Californian. Kevin scored his last points to take the first NY Open title.

Anderson2

Kevin with the Trophy

The NY Open did a new idea for a Trophy. The trophy was an original painting by artist Ted Dimond. He’s the one on the left of the painting in the picture. Also, the tournament had some of his artwork donated for raffles and silent auctions with proceeds going to charity. There were paintings of both players and of venues like the US Open and Wimbledon.

Mirnyi Oswald2

Mirnyi/Oswald with their Trophies

Mirnyi/Oswald fought hard to take the doubles in a third set tie break. This was Max Mirnyi’s 100th final. It was nice to see him take the title. And to make it more special, his daughter traveled as his coach for this tournament. There was a little corner of the stadium all decked out with Belarus flags, cheering on every Mirnyi/Oswald point. This was a very special tournament for him.

Raclette2

Raclette on a burger

Food – Hotel Shopping

We came up the night before and stayed in Manhattan. Our hotel was The Manhattan Club. We picked it based on location and availability and were amazed by how great it was. Very surprised by how nice a blind pick could be. The staff was friendly and the hotel was beautiful. They had a bar/lounge that was all decked out in cozy couches for complimentary coffee in the afternoon or a sleek evening of cocktails at night. In the morning it served a grab and go breakfast or a sit-down breakfast buffet.

Dinner was at Raclette. It’s a Swiss restaurant with all the scraped melty cheese you could want. They also serve Swiss wine and beer. Switzerland doesn’t export their wine and beer very much so it was a treat to have it. The place is small with that close Swiss cozy feel. You do need a reservation, it’s a busy place.

Henri Bendel is an accessory store and they were having a HUGE sale over the President’s Day weekend. If you read this the first day I post it, 2/19/18, it’s still going on, click on over to the site to check it out. I first heard about them through the US Open when they did some advertising at the tournament. We had to take advantage and did some gift shopping as well as a little something for myself.

It was a quick day and a 1/2 trip, but as in NY, it was fast paced, delicious and full of fun.

 

 

 

Fed Cup (On to the Semis)

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Fed Cup Pom Pom 2

The current Federation Cup Champions, The USA, were back in action this past weekend in Asheville, NC against the Netherlands. We decided to take a long weekend and head down to see our first Fed Cup tie. After we bought our tickets, we got a great surprise and the line up of Venus Williams, Serena Williams, CoCo Vandeweghe, and Lauren Davis was announced. What luck!

The winning team, The welcome, The first coin toss, The Trophy!

This was the first time the team has played since winning the 2017 cup. And it brought out quite a crowd to see the team and the trophy. And in true competitive fashion, the Fed Cup team prevailed in their first tie back.

Day one started with announcing the teams, exchanging gifts, and singing the national anthems. All the spectators are decked out in their USA gear, flags painted on their faces, and noisemakers and pom poms in hand. Fans come out in full support of their country – with the noise to prove it. USA now had to get the best of 5 matches.

So with horns blowing, drums beating, and fans chanting, the first match was on it’s way. Venus was taking on Arantxa Rus. Venus was in great form and after a great match prevailed 6-1, 6-4. As Venus said, on paper it looks like she should have won easily, but Arantxa played well and it was a battle. I love seeing Venus do so well, and at 37, it makes it an accomplishment. I admire her fight and positive attitude and having these while enjoying herself.

Next up was CoCo vs Richel Hogenkamp. Wow! Wow, what a match. CoCo is always intense and you never know how her matches will go. She was dug into a hole down a set and love-3. It seemed like the match was over. But then we were treated to one of her racquet smashes (I know I shouldn’t, but I LOVE it when she freaks out and bashes up her racquet) and we knew she was going to get her head straight. Slowly she climbed out of the hole and took the set. The crown was roaring! And then she took the last set to win it. I was tired from just watching the match.

End of Day One.

Day two was going to be short for us, we had to leave to catch our flight. Day two is reverse singles and a doubles match, if needed. The fans were back noisier than ever – it was a sell out of over 5,000 fans. Venus was taking on Richel Hogenkamp. Venus started out strong and was up 3-0. Richel calmed down and got her rhythm to string a bunch of wins to even it up. It was a match! Both women running each other around with some powerful serving. Venus pulled out the first set 7-5. Richel started to show some fatigue and Venus took over winning the second set, match, and tie! USA wins the first tie and is on to the semis!

The wining team did their victory lap waving the American Flag! Great start to 2018 and defending the trophy.

With the weekend of play over, they didn’t want to disappoint the fans who had come out to see Serena. So one more match was played, The Williams Sisters taking on Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs. We only got to see 3 games of the match before we had to leave – but it was the first time I to to see Serena play live (FINALLY!). I have had a string of bad luck getting tickets to see her play and her not being able to. So I got to see that serve, her ace one and I can finally say I saw it live.

End Day Two.

It was a fantastic time and if you ever have a Fed cup tie near you, go see it. It’s one of the few times tennis fans can let loose and cheer as loud a possible. And it’s a team sport for your country, it’s quite an event.

Working hard: Katrina Adams, Eva Asderaki-Moore, Alexis Ohanian

While the players are doing their thing, there are all the other people hard at work to make all of this happen. Katrina Adams, USTA President, actually came to each section of fans and thanked that section for coming out to cheer on the team. Chair Umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore checking the nets and making sure all is in order. She is impressive – she made history in 2015 when she was the first female chair umpire to call the men’s final at the US Open. And Alexis Ohanian on daddy duty with baby Alexis. You have to look real close in my terrible picture but that’s him on the left with the white cap and baby Alexis on his lap. During the match he was even feeding her a bottle, what a great dad.

Buxton Hall BBQ, Cheese Plate and Champagne at Battery Park Book Exchange

And of course, every trip has to have great food. The first night we went to Buxton Hall BBQ. I went with the BBQ chicken with black eye peas and the side special of the night Mac and cheese with a biscuit. My husband got whole hog BBQ with cole slaw, waffle fries, mac and cheese with corn bread. Very good.

The second night, I was in my heaven. We went to Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar. It’s two floors of used and new books, rare books, and signed books. It has an old library feel to it with comfy leather chairs and stacks and stacks of books. The best is all the champagne. And light bites of cheese, meats, hummus, and other small foods. We settled in with a couple of glasses and a cheese plate and listened to the Gypsy Jazz that was playing for Saturday night happy hour.

So our quick weekend down south to the Fed Cup was extremely successful. Next up, France! U-S-A, U-S-A!

 

 

 

The Gifts of Tennis

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Tennis has been a gift in my life for many reasons. It has taught me how to solve problems and handle situations through competition, work through tough times from injury, and to win gracefully. It has given me entertainment and a lifestyle through being a fan.

But there is also the Stuff you can get too! And I got a lot through the holiday season (that also includes my birthday).

The first gift we received was a pair of wooden salad servers shaped like tennis racquets (too clever!). This was thank you to our very wonderful friends in the UK. What a find. They will be fun to use with a cold salad during the hot days of Wimbledon!

Next up was a pair of tickets to a match at the inaugural New York Open.  Very excited to have some live tennis to see in winter so close to home. And a supply of tennis balls was added to this gift, always appreciated.

Next came a box of Dean & Deluca bio nutrition bars. They are a sponsor of the US Open and have a new Dean & Deluca performance line. This year at the US Open they had samples and I loved the Ginger and Tumeric.

And last up two books…

Knowing the Score by Judy Murray and Unstoppable by Maria Sharapova.

I have long admired Judy Murray and think she has not received nearly enough credit for her role in tennis and women’s sports in total. I’m looking forward to reading about her life’s journey through tennis.

And a woman who has long been a force in tennis, Maria Sharapova. I know she has her controversy, but you can’t take away from her that she loves tennis and fights with every breath she has for the sport. I admire that fight in any player.

I’ll report back on the books once I get through them.

So… as I write this, the first games of the 2018 Australian Open have started and I have a lot of tennis to watch over the next two weeks. Happy AO!

 

 

 

 

Congrats USA – 18th Fed Cup

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After 17 years of waiting, the USA Women brought home their 18th Fed Cup. Congratulations! Congratulations to the team: CoCo Vandeweghe, Sloane Stephens, Shelby Rogers, and Jen Brady, and the first year captain: Kathy Rinaldi.

Sloane Stephens, one of the Fed Cup winning team

The USA was playing Belarus in their home country. This was the first time Belarus was playing for the title and it brought out everyone. Even the President of Belarus and his family were there, cheering on every point. And in typical cup play, the fans were noisy and passionate. The USA did have a loud cheering section of their own, but the home country fans were out in full force.

CoCo disposed of her opponents quickly, but a struggling Sloan Stephens fell to her two opponents. It all came down to CoCo and Shelby. They were playing against Sabalenka and Sasnovich. They were the same two from the Belarus team who played singles.  After a close battle, CoCo and Shelby were victorious. Title well deserved.

And what a job Kathy Rinaldi did as captain. In her first year, she coached the team all the way to the title.

With just being in the finals, this gives the US the location choice for the first round of 2018, and they chose here in the states. I’m looking forward to seeing what city they pick, and hope it’s close enough to me that I can take a road trip in February to see them.

Again, Congratulations for now and looking forward to 2018…

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Basel!

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This week one of the ATP stops is Basel, Switzerland – Roger Federer’s home town. I was lucky enough to see this tournament a few years ago. My visit to Basel and the Swiss Indoors tournament was one of the best trips we took and an impressive tournament. Click over to the Basel page to read more on both.

This year Federer (of course!), Cilic, Goffin, Del Potro, and Jack Sock top the seeds. Federer drew Tiafo for his first round match. And this will be a match to watch, since Tiafo gave Fed trouble in the first round at the US Open.

Stevie Johnson drew Paire first round, and if he and Fed get through their matches, they will play round two. I remember when we went to Cincinnati, Stevie was Fed’s warm up partner, now they play in tournaments. I love seeing Stevie doing so well.

For the doubles, Stevie is teaming up with Ryan Harrison. Mixed Doubles Silver medalist Rajeev Ram (won with Venus in Rio) will be teaming up with Klassen as the seeded #3.

The tournament is at the St Jakob arena and they do it up right. There is a lot going on at this event than a typical 500. They have many food choices at various places in the stadium. And great vendor booths to shop in between matches, with a Moet champagne bar.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this tournament shakes out this year.