I’ve never seen a live tennis match. Not in a tournament anyways. So when I was asked by Frank (my brother), if I’d like to see the US Open Finals, I was, Yes, of course. And then he tells me, I only have 2 tickets, for me and for Hanit.
And hiding my disappointment, I reply, “Actually, I wasn’t that keen, anyways.” He must have known my true feelings, because 4 days later, he manages to get 2 more tickets. Seems like a friend of Hanit too wanted to go. And I was all set to see my first match, and that too a Finals. It wasn’t the biggest event, the Men’s finals, but the Women’s finals came a close second.
I followed the semi- finals and saw a bit of the matches. In the first semi-final Vera Zvoareva of Russia the 7th seed, beat Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark the 1st seed in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. In the other semi-final Kim Clijsters of Belgium the 2nd seed, beat the local favorite Venus Williams, the 3rd seed in a thrilling 3 setter, after trailing 4-6 in the first set and a 6-6 tiebreaker in the 2nd. The final scores, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), and 6-4.
It was a pleasant Saturday with great weather, considering that it rained the previous day and was a wet day the next day too. We took the Metro, the only sensible way to travel in New York to the Arthur Ashe Venue of the US Open. It’s a huge complex, and for me the first experience of seeing a tennis complex. As in most American venues, the food courts were everywhere. And in spite of there being 100’s of stalls, each one had long lines. And as in most places, there was an Indian stall. Interestingly, there were more non Indians lining up at these stalls, an indicator of how the cultures have mixed even in the curries.
The finals was the evening event and although the finals was scheduled to start at 7, the last match of the day session, the mens semi-finals between my favorite tennis player Roger Federer and the Serbian youngster Novak Djokovic was on. It was a thrilling 5 setter and we watched the final set on the huge screen, outside the main stadium. So close, yet so far. It was a thrilling 5 setter that much to my disappointment ended with Federer losing 7-5, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 5-7.
It took about an hour after the match for the stadium to be cleared, before we were allowed to enter. The stadium itself was an impressive 3 tiered one, with the most expensive ones being the lowest and closest to the court. Needless to say, we were on top of the world, looking down at the 2 stars. The event was preceded by 10-time Grammy Award winner Chaka Khan singing prior to the 2010 Women's Singles Final in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
After which the 2 finalists, Kim Clijsters and Vera Zvoareva came onto the court accompanied by tennis greats Chris Evert and Martina Navaratilova, 2 greats of yesteryear's. At that moment, there were 2 almost simultaneous screams that almost blew away my ear drums from either side. I jumped, startled. And had 2 embarrassed women on both sides profusely apologizing in advance as they were going to continue to scream throughout the match. Both had flown in from Belgium to watch Kim Clijsters hopefully win the title.
The tennis itself was unfortunately completely one-sided. And I realized better watched on TV. Even here, I’d see a lot of the close-up on the large screens. Kim Clijsters was in command from the very first game and thrashed Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1. The thank you speech by Kim, where she thanked almost everyone who came, except me, along with her cute kid on the court, lasted longer than the match. And as we headed out in the crowd, I realized that it had taken us longer to get in and out of the stadium than the total time taken by the match.
I may never go to watch another tournament match again, but I’m glad I did see this. It’s an experience that’s difficult to describe, but 1 that should be experienced. With the traditional American Beer and hot dog. Next stop Wimbledon. For strawberries and cream.
p.s.: Had to have a Grey Goose cocktail. Just so that I could get a souvenir for the kids.
p.p.s.: And Frank and Hanit had to go out and come in for the 2nd and 3rd time to get souvenir baseball caps that were being given for free, but we managed to miss.
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