What a night! The number 1 seed for the tournament pushed to the limit. The number 3 seed fighting for survival. Both faltering on occasions and then lifting their games to show why they are where they are in world tennis. They were games that deserved a semi-final status, but were actually just the beginning of what promises to be a roller-coaster of a tournament. I'm referring to the SAP Open Tennis tournament in San Jose and the seeds are none other than Andy Roddick and Tommy Hass respectively. My first tennis event live at court-side, ever, and what a memorable one it was. Thanks to a colleague who arranged for the tickets, I managed to get a glimpse at the raw power, amazing agility, superlative control, giant serves and some heart-throbbing moments from these amazing tennis stars.
We got the evening session tickets for the lower baseline seats, the ones right behind the players. A perfect spot if you really want to appreciate every movement, every angle and every shot that these guys manufacture at will. First up was A-Rod facing a young Aussie, Chris Guccione, ranked somewhere in the 80's. The first set began, as expected, with both players holding their serves for the first 4 games, A-Rod serving as powerfully as ever and Guccione showing some deft touches at the net. A-Rod broke through in the 5 game of the match, with Guccione making a series of unforced errors at the baseline. From there on wrapping up the first set was a mere formality for the American number 1 and the SAP Open defending champion. The second set began exactly as the first, with both players holding their serves, only on this occasion there were no breaks on offer from either players. The set showcased some relentless serve and volleys from the young Aussie and some brilliant down the line passes from A-Rod. The Aussie was determined to take the fight to A-Rod and, despite conceding a mini-break in the tie-breaker, managed to squeeze out the set 7-3. A-Rod was on top of his game though and kept his consistency going and took the final set to the tie-breaker as well. However this time he made sure he did not make the same mistakes as the previous set and sealed the game 7-5. Despite the defeat, Guccione seems to have a bright future ahead of him, if only he can improve his baseline game.
The most amazing part of the night was yet to come. After winning the game A-Rod signed a few balls and threw them into the crowed, and lucky enough one of them landed right into the hands on my colleague after taking a slight deflection off my hand. We gave the autographed ball to a 65 year old lady sitting right in front of us, who seemed to be completely smitten by A-Rod. The expression on her face said it all, we had made her day. Next up was the German, number 3 seed, Tommy Haas facing off with a little known American Robert Kendrick. The pace of this match was even faster than the earlier one. With both players preferring to stay back, we saw some exciting rallies. It was a see-saw battle between 2 immensely talented players. The first set went to Haas 6-3. The next one saw Kendrick get into top gear, serving with venom and hitting like there was no tomorrow. He won it 6 games to 4. The final set started with a break for Haas and from there on it was only a question of when and not if Haas would seal victory. He eventually won it 6-2.
The first game had started at 7pm and by the time the evening session got over it was 11.15pm. We finally rushed out of the court to catch the last light rail back to work, since we had left our cars there. I ended up reaching home at about 12.30am. But it was one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had. Of course I'm not done yet, as I've arranged for another session on Saturday night and this time it is indeed the semi-finals of the tournament. If we get a show anywhere close to what it was last night, we're in for a treat. May the best man win.
We got the evening session tickets for the lower baseline seats, the ones right behind the players. A perfect spot if you really want to appreciate every movement, every angle and every shot that these guys manufacture at will. First up was A-Rod facing a young Aussie, Chris Guccione, ranked somewhere in the 80's. The first set began, as expected, with both players holding their serves for the first 4 games, A-Rod serving as powerfully as ever and Guccione showing some deft touches at the net. A-Rod broke through in the 5 game of the match, with Guccione making a series of unforced errors at the baseline. From there on wrapping up the first set was a mere formality for the American number 1 and the SAP Open defending champion. The second set began exactly as the first, with both players holding their serves, only on this occasion there were no breaks on offer from either players. The set showcased some relentless serve and volleys from the young Aussie and some brilliant down the line passes from A-Rod. The Aussie was determined to take the fight to A-Rod and, despite conceding a mini-break in the tie-breaker, managed to squeeze out the set 7-3. A-Rod was on top of his game though and kept his consistency going and took the final set to the tie-breaker as well. However this time he made sure he did not make the same mistakes as the previous set and sealed the game 7-5. Despite the defeat, Guccione seems to have a bright future ahead of him, if only he can improve his baseline game.
The most amazing part of the night was yet to come. After winning the game A-Rod signed a few balls and threw them into the crowed, and lucky enough one of them landed right into the hands on my colleague after taking a slight deflection off my hand. We gave the autographed ball to a 65 year old lady sitting right in front of us, who seemed to be completely smitten by A-Rod. The expression on her face said it all, we had made her day. Next up was the German, number 3 seed, Tommy Haas facing off with a little known American Robert Kendrick. The pace of this match was even faster than the earlier one. With both players preferring to stay back, we saw some exciting rallies. It was a see-saw battle between 2 immensely talented players. The first set went to Haas 6-3. The next one saw Kendrick get into top gear, serving with venom and hitting like there was no tomorrow. He won it 6 games to 4. The final set started with a break for Haas and from there on it was only a question of when and not if Haas would seal victory. He eventually won it 6-2.
The first game had started at 7pm and by the time the evening session got over it was 11.15pm. We finally rushed out of the court to catch the last light rail back to work, since we had left our cars there. I ended up reaching home at about 12.30am. But it was one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had. Of course I'm not done yet, as I've arranged for another session on Saturday night and this time it is indeed the semi-finals of the tournament. If we get a show anywhere close to what it was last night, we're in for a treat. May the best man win.
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