by Pete Bodo

NEW YORK—Well, it’s another rainy day in Flushing Meadows, but I sucked it up and made it here. So did our TENNIS magazine intern, Brad Kallet, who had to catch the proverbial trains, planes and automobiles to get here from his home home in New Jersey—all in the pouring rain, with little hope of seeing a single tennis ball hit in anger. Gotta hand it to the kid, he sure is persistent. And we actually found him a piece to write, which will appear either here or on the home page later. He’s going to check out the umpires and ballboys, all of whom are captives on site all day (unlike fans and players) and work something up on them.

One perk of tenure as a tennis journalist is that it earns you an exemption from having to write rainy-day ballboy or umpire pieces. That also leaves me high and dry, figuratively speaking, because another unspoken axiom of the trade is that you only get one rainy day story out of a particularly bad spell of weather, unless of course the tournament is in full swing and you can hunt down some coaches or players, or analyze the draw. This tournament is not only not in full swing, the draw won’t be made until Thursday, and the qualifying has barely started.

I had hoped to get together with Robert Kendrick today, but he stayed in the city. It won’t be a total write-off of a day for me, though, because I have a call booked later this afternoon with Larry Ellison, the hugely successful Internet entrepreneur and new owner of the Indian Wells tournament. I’ll have to return to the city to get that one done.

But let’s take a quick look at some recent news, just to keep our spirits up.

—Yesterday, James Blake was involved in the shortest match played on the tour so far this year—a 35-minute, 6-0, 6-1 affair. The good news for Blake is that he was on the winning end for a change. I just went to the ATP website and am delighted—and amazed—to see that play apparently is in progress in New Haven, despite the horrible weather here in New York. 

Today, Blake is meeting Alexandr Dolgopolov, about whom I’ve been hearing good things. We’ll keep our eyes on him in the coming days. I hope the quick-time win has boosted Blake’s confidence.

—Elena Dementieva presently is fighting cheek to jowl with Kateryna Bondarenko, 3-all in the third. Which begs the question, just how fit and match-ready will Dementieva be for the U.S. Open, where she’s often played so well in the past?

It’s funny, but when I think of Dementieva, the thing that comes to mind is all those tournaments, a dozen or so, where she played like a house on fire and looked like a can’t miss winner or finalist. . . yet always missed. Choking, injuries, inexplicably bad days (for someone who had been playing so well, and had learned the value of seizing opportunity) are the personal history she’s written at the majors.

Frankly, I’m shocked she hasn’t won one, and I’m rapidly losing the once airtight conviction that she would bag a major one day. For her sake, I’m glad she won that Olympic Games gold medal. Given the typical Russian’s reverence for Olympic athletes and events, I imagine that Dementieva sticks that gold medal under the sheets when she goes to sleep, to keep her warm and optimistic.

—Is Marcos Baghdatis resurgent (again) for real? It’s an interesting, open question, because Baghdatis has been showing signs of the one quality that regular Grand Slam contenders demonstrate. He’s been playing consistently. The headline at the ATP website blares, “Baghdatis Continues March to US Open,” which is a nice bit of hyperbolic writing, if nothing else.

Baggy has put up three wins over Top 10 players in the past month, and improved his record on the summer hard-court circuit to 10-4. Often, a talented free spirit like Baghdatis will play well for a tournament or two, then fade. But Baghdatis, who beat Tomas Berdych and Rafael Nadal en route to a semifinal loss to champion Roger Federer at the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters, continues to play like he means it. He’s the top seed at the Pilot Pen Classic in New Haven this week, and while the conditions there have been tough, he’s declared his intentions: “It’s been a good summer for me, but I came to play here and I came to win the tournament,” he said, after knocking out Igor Andreev yesterday.

Oddly, this resurrection coincides with that of another player who has a game and form chart similar to that of Baghdatis: David Nalbandian. Both of them could be impact players at the Open. Just for the hail of it, I took a look at their head-to-head record, and it confirms the parallels. Baghdatis holds a narrow 3-2 edge, and won the last three matches running, until Nalbandian put up his second win over Baggy a few weeks ago at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic (Washington D.C.). Three of their five meetings have occurred at majors (2-1 for Baghdatis), and the Cypriot beat the Argentinian in the most critical meeting of them all—the Australian Open semifinals, 2006, thereby earning the privilege of getting spanked in the final by Roger Federer.

But mark your calendars, everyone. A U.S. Open meeting of these two talented shotmakers looms as must-see tennis.

—I don’t know who’s going to be in a tougher position, mentally and emotionally, when the U.S. Open gets underway: Melanie Oudin or Caroline Wozniacki. After Serena Williams, they were the top WTA newsmakers at the American championships last year—Oudin for that courageous, mesmerizing run to the quarters; Wozniacki for reaching the final. Oudin bowled over three high-quality Russians during her spree at Flushing Meadows: Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, and Nadia Petrova, before she was halted by Wozniacki.

This year, Oudin has won exactly one match at a major (a win over Anna Lena Gronefeld at Wimbledon), and I was somewhat surprised to see that she’s ranked no. 44—I expected it to be lower. Wozniacki is 10-3 in the majors (she reached at least the round of 16 at each Grand Slam event), but as a defending finalist, a lot will be expected of her—and her losses at the majors have been alarming, one-sided blowouts (Petra Kvitova bombarded her, 6-2, 6-0 in their fourth-round match at Wimbledon).

BTW, Oudin, Wozniacki, John Isner and Sam Querrey are part of a promotional package conceived by U.S. Open sponsor American Express. They’ve created a cheerfully optimistic space for the quartet, billing them as “Next Contenders.” Amex is planning to seed this dedicated website with exclusive material about and by those four players all the way until the end of the U.S. Open. So if you’re a fan one any of them, check it out.  And while we still don’t know Isner’s U.S. Open status (ankle), I have some exclusive material about John that I also plan to post in the coming days.

Wozniacki’s big win in Montreal the other day is sure to help her confidence, but I still think both she and Oudin have their work cut out for them if they hope to match their results of last year.

By Jackie Roe, TW Social Director

Greetings from Toronto, TWibe! I’m thrilled to be covering the Roger’s Cup tournament for the first time and can’t wait to update you on all that’s gone down since my arrival. By now, most of you know how I operate at these tournaments – I scribble down pages and pages of observations, then attempt to make sense of it all at the end of the day. I hope I succeeded…

Before I jump in, I want to remind y’all that I’m also Tweeting from the grounds (@JackieRoe). Check out my page for more on my tournament experience.

Wednesday, 8/11

Land in Toronto. Funny moment at the Toronto airport: After he learns that I’m visiting Canada for the tennis tournament, the customs agent asks me who my favorite player is. I say Roger Federer. Customs guy: You’re in.

The first thing I noticed upon entering Canada was just how nice everyone was, from the aforementioned customs guy to the shuttle ticketing agent to the hotel maid. Quite a change from what I’m used to in the States (no offense to my fellow Yanks).

Thursday, 8/12

My first day at the tournament site. Idyllic tennis-spectating weather – temperatures in the low 80s, sunny, very little humidity (at least compared to what we experience in Chicago).

Organized, well-run tournament. Everyone helpful and accommodating. Getting around a hassle-free experience. (Getting to the tournament a different story – it’s an interminable drive from downtown, where the hotels are). Felt at home within just a few hours.

Special thanks also go out to Steve, who was was nice enough to give me the 411 on all press matters and show me around the site. Navigating the media areas – media room, interview room, media seating, etc. – was easier here than in the other tournaments I’ve covered. Very little walking required.

Took a seat on Centre Court for Nalbandian vs. Soderling.

• I was really looking forward to this one, thinking it’d be the ultimate slugfest. Ended up being underwhelmed. How did it come across on TV?
• Superficial observation of the match: Nalby looks great in blue.
• Nalby’s groundies live are even more impressive than on TV – blistering power coupled with pinpoint accuracy.
• Sod’s (understandable) frustration was palpable … racquet tosses and smashes galore.

Stayed on Centre for Federer-Llodra.

• The first few minutes of the match were torturous for Fed fans. I was too mesmerized by both his pink shirt and Llodra’s volleys to notice what he was – or wasn’t – doing, though. (Serve was all over the place, right?)
• Llodra’s great fun to watch, with that fantastic net game. Credit to all the dubs experience!
• The match picked up once Fed snapped out of his stupor and adjusted to Llodra’s style of play – they’d only played once before, and more than a decade ago, after all. (Spoken like a true Fed fan. Forgive me.)
• This match was the polar opposite of the previous one … both guys coming in, trying to create opportunities for themselves  vs. hanging back and wailing away at the ball. Fun for fans to see that contrast in the span of a single session.

I left the match in the middle of the second set to check out Nalby’s presser. (That meant I missed both the underhand serve and the shirt incident. Oh well. )

Note about the interview room: The setup is unique, as the players aren’t positioned behind a table like we’re used to. Instead, they’re seated on lounge chairs, facing the media, and equipped with lavalier mics. Sort of like a talk-show setup. I liked this, and I imagine the players did, too. They seemed more comfortable, more at ease. More laughter and joking around. The interaction felt like a conversation rather than a Q & A/being in front of a firing squad.

Impressions of Nalby in presser mode: Positive, pleasant, polite. Attributed his winning streak to increased motivation.

Met up with Mariya from TalkAboutTennis.com – a fabulous gal, just as witty and amiable in person as she is online.

Then came Llodra’s presser.

• Said he didn’t serve well. Windy conditions. Still described it as a “good match.”
• Why the underhand serve? Llodra said he wanted to do “something special.”
• Aside: I chuckle whenever I hear foreigners like Llodra say “chip and charge.” Robredo did it during a practice at Indian Wells … never forgot it. (I’m easily amused.)
• Impressions of Llodra: Calm, has perspective. Also has a quiet confidence about him – he’s not a large guy but his presence is commanding. There’s a “great thinker” vibe to all of the Frenchies, LLodra included.
• Described Fed as a “legend.” When asked why he asked for Fed’s shirt, he said he thought it would make a good present for his kids.

Up next: Fed’s presser. If you’ve already read the transcript, bear with me.

• More superficiality: Loved his outfit. He was wearing white pants and a white shirt with bands of green and gray. Not sure why, but it reminded me of Tacchini.
• Said it was his first time receiving an underhand serve during a match, but the third time he’s given his shirt to a fellow player.
• Re: the shirt request: “He’s older so I couldn’t say no!” Once gave his shirt away in an elevator (to a Brazilian player following their match).
• Fielded questions about Annacone, of course. Noted he had been in touch with him for many years. Also spoke with Tim Henman about it.
• Reporter mentioned that she recalled him having a lot of fun during a practice in Key Biscayne. Federer’s reply: “I like tennis, you know?”
• Re: the pink shirt: Wasn’t aware Rafa would be in pink; players/sponsors actually choose their colors more than a year in advance. Funniest quote of the day: “I don’t know where my head was when I chose pink.”

Back to Centre for Murray-Monfils.

• Weird scoreline (6-2, 0-6, 6-3). Sort of reminiscent of Murray’s match against Lopez just a couple of weeks ago. (Pattern, perhaps? Murray charging ahead, then losing his focus and tanking, then righting the ship?)
• Crowd solidly behind Monfils, what with all of his histrionics.
• Interesting to me how two players who are both fundamentally retrievers/defensive players generate such disparate reactions from spectators. Monfils is flashy, fun to watch, brings the crowd to its feet. Murray isn’t nearly as exciting, shows brilliance in the most understated of ways. And at times he’s unsavory to watch because of his foul attitude – the negativity is even more apparent in real life than it is on TV (I wasn’t sure that was possible).
• To sum up the difference between the two in typical nonsensical Jackie fashion: Muzz is almost too in his head and Monfils is too out of it.
• Monfils took an inordinately long time doing just about anything. Changeovers, toweling off, even getting up off the ground after flinging himself onto it.
• Watching Monfils dive, slide, fall, I was reminded of a quote used to describe Mick Foley, a popular wrestler who made a name for himself by executing insanely dangerous spots in his matches. Foley himself said that the audience appreciated him because he was hurting himself for their benefit. Monfils is tennis’s version of Foley, in a weird way.

Watched Lindstedt and Tecau practice. Seems like a true business relationship. Very serious, intense session. Little conversing between the two. (Maybe that explains their success!)

Caught a few minutes of Djokovic-Hanescu on Grandstand. Out of the heat, Nole almost seems like a different person. Much more confident, markedly better movement.

Finished off the day with Nadal-Anderson. Many of you know that I’ve supported Anderson for a while now, thanks to the fact that we share the same alma mater. He’s actually not as young as he seems (he’s 24), but you get the sense that he’ll continue to improve, that he has the potential to get better by leaps and bounds. I’ve held out hope that his almost-breakthroughs (beating Djokovic in Key Biscayne in ’08 and Querrey here) are glimpses of what’s ahead.

General observations:

• Being at a Masters tournament at the end of the week is a much different experience than attending the earlier days, which was all I’d ever done. On this day, I was more inclined to watch the marquee matches on Centre Court than to roam the practice courts.
• Really liked the feel of this tournament. I described the energy as “warm” earlier.

The true highlights of the day were meeting up with TWibers for the first time!

• As I waited outside Grandstand to catch a few minutes of Djokovic-Hanescu, I heard a “JACKIE ROE!” and there in front of me was the lovely A_gallivant, aka Andreen. Ray of sunshine. Felt like I’d known her for years.
• Met Sher for the first time, as well, during Nadal-Anderson. Another sweetheart. The kindest soul, which you get but a glimpse of in her TW posts. She’s a great photographer, too – that’s her Rafa photo above!
  

That’s all for now … Day 1′s in the books! I’ll save today’s and tomorrow’s happenings for my next post, going up Sunday morning. Be on the lookout, and thanks for reading. Enjoy the start of your weekend, TWibe!

Yesterday afternoon I left you from a Rogers Cup
site that looked something like an oversized soup bowl. Against all odds, though, the water dried and the players were dragged bleary-eyed from their hiding
places in the lounge, handed racquets and balls, and forced to run around under the lights. You know
how on Monday I listed all the reasons I could never be a pro? Chalk this
up as another: Having to start your match five hours after you had originally
prepared your mind and body to play it. In those kinds of cases, whether it’s tennis or some other nerve-wracking activity, there typically comes a point when I just say: I don’t care what
happens, I just want it to be over. That must a reaction that every pro has had
to ignore or fight off hundreds of times.

By my estimation, three things of note happened during
Monday’s second half. Ernests Gulbis won a tennis match. It’s true, even if only a handful of people witnessed it—you really could hear crickets chirping all around the court. Gulbis was sharp to start
against Thomaz Bellucci, but exceptionally tense when he was ahead. Gulbis lost
the first three games of the second set, won five straight, then did his best
to blow that lead. When he was down on his serve, though, he threw bombs,
kept his composure, and even—now and then, here and there, you’d miss it if you
blinked—showed some positive energy. Of course, there were a few vintage Ernestsian
moments. When he was he was down 0-3, he walked past his coach, who gave him a
fist-pump and said, “Come on!” Gulbis only response was to raise his right eyebrow skeptically, as if to say, “Really? Did you just watch the last three games? What are you so excited about?” Later, after missing a backhand, Gulbis looked at his camp and said, “I
don’t feel it. I can’t feel it,” as if all was lost. On the next point, he wrist-snapped
a brilliant short backhand up the line for a passing shot winner that gave him a break. There’s a touch of the tortured genius in Gulbis, though the emphasis so far in his career has been on the first word. A W is a W, but the main
reason he won this match was that Bellucci, whenever it mattered, was reliably godawful.

The next must-see event was Roger Federer’s first
post-Wimbledon press conference. This was notable for (1) the length of Federer’s
answers—did he miss us? (2) his professed willingness at some point to play
doubles with Rafael Nadal; (3) his assertion that he’ll do a trial run with
Paul Annacone as coach through the U.S. Open; and (4) his upbeat attitude about
having his kids on the road—“we put tennis first and family first.” Federer
also referred to his life as “superstable.” All in all, sitting in a civilized and untwitchy posture, with his legs crossed in front of him, he appeared to be a man naturally and powerfully drawn to success.
I am now officially waiting for a “Roger Federer’s 7 secrets to living your dream
life” book series (really, I am, I can use it).

Later, too much later, we finally had a chance to see the No. 1 and 2 players, Nadal and Novak Djokovic, line up on the same side of the court for the first time since Ashe
and Connors did it in 1976. While Rafa and Nole weren’t as odd a couple as
those two must have been, they didn’t exactly gel as a team, losing to two gawky young
unknowns in a super-tiebreaker. With the no-ad scoring and the promise of
fireworks afterword, there was an exhibition-like feel to the evening. I didn’t
see the whole thing, but from what I did see, Nadal looked energized while
Djokovic looked flat. He missed returns and didn’t close at the net (a classic singles player mistake).
Their opponents were tall and rangy and knew their doubles. They beat
Nadal and Djokovic a number of times by simply going up the middle on them.

On the one hand, I’m surprised they lost, because Nadal had
single-handedly won the doubles event at Indian Wells this spring, and the
format gives him a chance to show a more aggressive and creative side to his
game that he subdues for practical reasons in singles—he really can hit a stab
volley lob winner. But I’m not really all that surprised. They would have had
to play again this afternoon, and their partnership had already caused the
tournament headaches. Before the event, officials had tried to sell tickets by
announcing that Djokovic would play Tuesday night. That didn’t work with his
doubles, so they had to move him to Wednesday afternoon. Big-name dubs will
never be a sure thing on this tour. The Lavers and Rosewalls of the world played it because
they needed the money. Now the top singles players run the show, and they obviously
don’t need the extra cash. Conflicting agendas can make these
partnerships as much trouble as fun. Still, a Federer-Nadal combination would
be more than worth whatever it takes to make it happen.

***

That brings us to Tuesday, when the weather is supposed to improve. What should we be looking for?

I’ll be curious about Sergiy Stakhovsky and Tomas Berdych.
One is coming off a Wimbledon final, the other an upset of a former Top Tenner. How
good is the late-blooming Stakhovsky? This may give us an idea.

After that, we’ll get another curiosity: Ferrer vs.
Nalbandian. This potentially superb matchup will hang on Nalby’s fitness.
Unfortunately, that’s never something you want to hang anything on. Ditto for
Baghdatis vs. Chardy on the Grandstand.

Then it’s Ernests vs. Soderling, a heavyweight slugfest (ugfest?) if
there ever was one. Gulbis finished late last night, so you have to like
Soderling.

I’ll also be heading out to tiny Court 1 to watch two Americans, Sam
Querrey and Michael Russell, face off. It might not be much of a battle,
considering that Russell lists Querrey among his least-favorite opponents right
on the ATP’s website. But this 32-year-old has plugged away and survived
for much longer than anyone would have expected. Russell also plays with
pleasure and perspective, rather than the vicious focus that’s been the norm
for so long. We’ll see where that gets him, and what kind of form Sam is in.

***

Enjoy all of it, if you can see it. I’ll be back later.

PS: Can someone name the song where I got the (admittedly odd) name of this post?

By Jackie Roe, TW Social Director

Hey there, TWibe! Today’s Deuce Club is jam-packed, so let’s get right down to business.

1) I’m Toronto-bound on Wednesday, attending the tennis from Thursday through Sunday. Then I’m headed straight to Cincinnati for a few more (glorious) days of tennis. Stay tuned for my reports, both in and out of the Deuce Club. (DCs will still go up at their regular time.) To all you Twitterphiles: I plan on Tweeting up a storm, so click here to follow me and/or check out my page. Reply often!

2) I just received the following from GVGirl:

I’d like to give a little shout out to TWiber sblily who helped my website, Global Village Tennis News (www.gvtnews.com) cover the Bank of the West Classic last week. A family matter came up so she took my place as media at the tournament. In addition to writing some articles, she also took over my Twitter account, @GVTennisNews. She did a great job! Note that my site will be doing the same type of coverage for San Diego, Cincinnati (both the women’s and men’s tournaments), Toronto, and Pilot Pen.

I second GVGirl – sblily, you did a fantastic job! Thoroughly entertaining reports and Tweets. Well done, and I hope you have the chance to cover another tournament soon.

3) Now, the highlight of this week’s DC … Legg Mason reports from TWibers Shelley and linz! I never tire of reading these fan reports; not only are they informative and fun, but they also inspire us to experience live tennis for ourselves. I think it was TWiber Annie who revealed that her trip to Indian Wells this year would’ve never come to fruition if not for our tournament tales in the DC (Annie, forgive me if I bastardized your sentiment!). I was so touched to hear that, to be reminded yet again of all that TW has done for us – importantly, fostering relationships and encouraging us become more involved tennis fans.

But I digress. Back to Shelley and linz and their terrific write-ups. Enjoy, everyone!

Shelley:

On the first day of volunteering in the tournament office at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, my fellow volunteers and I were trying to get used to the phone system and make sure we were giving callers all of the correct information. Funny enough, we actually fielded a few calls from people connected to players. For example, Fernando Verdasco’s brother, Marcos, called into the office looking for the transportation phone number, and Betty Blake, James Blake’s mom, called in looking for the hotel phone number.

I was able to get away for a while (there were 6 volunteers answering phones but only 4 phones and chairs, go figure), so I hung around the practice courts. Berdych hit with Stepanek; Troicki hit with Nalbandian, then Lu; Wawrinka played lots of tennis-soccer before practicing; Simon practiced with Benneteau. [JR: Shelley took the Gilles photo above. Great shirt.]

The second day of volunteering was more exciting. The tournament office just so happens to be right above the player’s locker room, which makes for some interesting sightings of random players throughout the day. I saw Marcos Baghdatis several times as I ran in and out of the tournament office. Gilles Simon and Julien Benneteau had just come in from a practice session when I was returning from lunch.

It was around that time that I ran outside to meet up with linz. We had arranged to meet up by the big “main draw sheet” by the Grandstand court. At first we weren’t sure if we saw one another and then I heard a “Shelley?” and was greeted with a hug! (It was great to meet you, linz!) linz was with Jules (@julesdc on Twitter), and it was so nice to meet up with two fellow tennis lovers. They wandered off to watch some practice sessions while I went back to my volunteering duties. I went out later in the day to catch some of Gulbis practicing with Baghdatis, then as I was about to go back into the office, who do I see practicing on Court 2? Fernando Verdasco! So, I called linz (a big Hott Sauce fan) right away to let her know. Then came the rain for about an hour.

I was asked to volunteer on Tuesday night so I went in after work for 2 hours. Got into the tournament for free! It was a great night of tennis; I got to see Simon, Roddick, Verdasco, and Isner. I spotted Roddick in the tournament office before he went out for his warm-up and tried to make it seem like I didn’t notice him(!), but he smiled at me and kept on moving along to the player’s locker room. Verdasco’s match was a rough one to watch but I was happy he pulled out the win. Most of the people in the Stadium court just wanted the Verdasco match to end so that Roddick could come on, but I was happy to see Verdasco play! After Verdasco finally won, I went over to Grandstand to watch Simon vs. Kunitsyn. Simon looked great. His forehand and backhand were finding the lines and he was able to win the match in under an hour (a good thing, right, Jackie?). After that I went back to the Stadium court to see a little bit of Roddick and to get a good seat for Isner’s match. By the time Isner came on, it was past 10:30 PM and I was exhausted since I had been up since 6:30 in the morning! So, I decided to leave after the first set, which Isner pulled out despite showing some frustration.

I didn’t go to the tournament on Wednesday (needed a break, if you can believe it) but I went on Thursday and I will be there the whole weekend fulfilling my volunteer duties. After that I get a week off from live tennis, but then it’s on to Cincinnati where I will finally get to meet up with Jackie! You can follow me on twitter, @shelleyellie, if you want updates from Legg Mason or from Cincinnati.

linz:

Hey TW! I was lucky enough to get to the Legg Mason Tennis Classic last weekend for just 2 days and had an absolute blast. I know you’ve heard this before, but if you have any access to a tournament at all, GO!  It’s beyond worth it, even if it’s just for qualification rounds like this was. Here are just a few tidbits from my weekend:

- I got to sit in on a Roddick practice! [JR: For those who don't know, linz is a Roddick devotee.] He was practicing on a match court and so I actually got to sit on the bleachers 10 feet away from him – no fence in between! He was practicing with (the scarily skinny) Mardy Fish and it was so much fun to see/hear them interact. They were playing a tiebreak and Andy won a crazy point after he flubbed a shot down the middle, tripping up Mardy. After Larry smirked and Mardy clapped, Andy said, “Yup, that’s exactly what I meant to do. A mishit forehand down the middle. Confuse and conquer.”

- I got my picture taken with Verdasco (in the RAIN) and he was incredibly nice. And gorgeous. And accommodating. And gorgeous.

- Clement and Schuettler practiced right after the rainshower on Sunday, and Clement was actually drying the courts with a squeegee while Schuettler just watched and waited! So much for the glamorous life.

- Ernie practiced with his dad throughout the rainshower. Afterward they left a mess which I raided with my partner-in-crime Jules. Now I have one of Ernie’s practice balls in my “random stuff” collection!

- I was watching Nalby and Mayer practice when a phone started ringing inside the fence. The ringtone was “Temperature” by Sean Paul and it was really loud! I looked in front of me, spotted the phone that was ringing, and saw that “Steve Nalbandian” was calling! So, apparently Nalbandian has a Blackberry Pearl and likes Sean Paul (see why you should go to tennis tournaments?).

- As always it was a blast meeting up with tennis folks. I briefly met Shelley from TW and spent all of Sunday with Jules who I met through the tennis community on Twitter. [JR: That's them in the photo above. Jules on the left, linz on the right.] Nothing like enjoying tournaments with other tennis fanatics! I can’t wait to meet some of you guys at the USO!

Thank you for the awesome reports and pics, ladies! I’m thrilled you both had such a great time. Shelley, I can’t wait to meet you in Cincy, and linz, here’s hoping for a reunion at the Open!

That’s all for now. See you here next week for the Toronto edition of the Deuce Club. Have a great weekend!