Best Day Ever: Tennis Edition

November 4, 2010- When people ask me what was the first sport I ever played; they might guess volleyball. The people that know me would say basketball because of my success in high school at Lawrence North. But most would be shocked to know that the very first ball I ever played with was a fuzzy, small, green one. Yes! I played tennis. Shocked? My father used to take us over to the park on 46th and Shadeland to teach us the game of tennis. My earliest recollection was when I was five. He placed me at the serving T in the middle of the court, right in front of "No- mans land", put an old wooden Wilson tennis racquet in my hand and hit balls at me. Ever since then, Sundays were all about going to the court and hitting balls with Dad and my brother. And even though I did not stick with tennis like my younger Bro, I am still an avid fan. Actually my whole family is. You can catch us all in front of the TV watching the French Open or Wimbledon every once in a while. I was even watching the US Open on TV here in Switzerland while discussing the match with my brother over Skype. Yes, we are that big of fans.

So when I heard about the Davidoff Swiss Indoors so conveniently being played in Basel, I knew I had to make an appearance. I mean how many other times will I be able to see such high level tennis at a major event? Some of my favorites were playing... Federer, Roddick, Berdych, Gasquet. I had to go! And let me tell you... It was the Best Day Ever!

November 4th came around and luckily my coach gave us the evening off. Perfect. I was determined to go see some tennis. No excuses was gonna get in my way. I walked up to the ticket counter and requested the closest seat possible, Row 1, Seat 47 in the Premium Section. How appropriate was it that it had Andy Roddick on the front. It was dead smack in the middle right behind the VIP section. If I was any closer, I would have been out there playing doubles with them.

Ok. So I have been to basketball and football games. You come and go as you please. You can yell and hold up signs or whatever. But this was different. Tennis has rules. They tell you when to leave, when to clap, when to talk. Its crazy. I felt like I was at a Golf Tournament. When I first walked in David Nalbandian from Argentina was facing off against Marin Cilic of Croatia. The only thing was I had to wait until the next break behind a curtain. In tennis there are breaks where the players get a drink and rest for about 2-3 minutes. At this moment the crowd can come and go as they please. But when they say time you need to be in your seat and ready to watch the match again. No jumping up and yelling. No flash photography (http://tinyurl.com/365r3vz). Actually the players complain that it is very distracting. I remember the days when people used to haggle me at the free throw line or at the service line in volleyball.

I sat there trying to fit in like I always go to big ATP events. Actually people were staring at me wondering if I maybe was famous or something... or so I like to think. Another cool thing was the discipline of the ball kids. Wow, I was very impressed. They are out there on court with their favorite tennis idols, handing them towels and balls and water. Yet, they keep such composure and are able to do their jobs very well. They work in shifts as do the line judges. When its time to change, its done in a very orderly manner. Almost like the changing of the guard.

The Umpire from the Famous John Isner V. Nicolas Mahut Wimbeldon Match

Changing of the line judges.

After sitting through two very good matches ( Nalbandian/ Cilic & Gasquet/Kamke), it was time to cheer on my fellow American Andy Roddick. Such a huge fan. Love his intensity and athleticism out there on the court, as well as his charisma and humor off the court. He is a winner and I love to watch him compete. On top of that his serve really does look like it could kill a small dog. In the end ARod or Kid Roddick as my brother used to say, breezed to a fairly easy victory. Had to give him the standing ovation for representing the red, white & blue. Awesomeness!




Finally came the main event of this particular day. The defending champion, Novak Djokovic from Serbia faced off against the Finnish Jarko Nieminen. Not a big fan of Nole, but I do respect his game and his fierce competitiveness. The "Djoker" as my brother refers to him is ranked 3rd in the world and recently sent Roger Federer home early from the US Open. Booo! The Djokster also cruised to a victory over the Finn in two straight sets.



In the end though, all the players had to go through one player. Arguably the best tennis player ever to play the game, and his name is Roger Federer. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to see the mastermind at his best and in his home town. :( That just means I have to attend another major tennis or ATP event in the future. The Swiss Maestro defeated Andy Roddick in the semis and went on to defeat Djokovic in the finals. Nice Job Rog!

By far the Best Day Ever: Tennis Edition!

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