March 19, 2008

11:15 AM
The first thing I heard when I arrived at the site was the fact that Nadal/Nalbandian finished at 2:02 AM. The second thing was what a great end to the match with the Spaniard saving five match points. Right now, I’m wishing I would have stayed, but of course that’s easy to say at 11:15 AM and not so easy at 1:15 AM. I knew that this promised to be a great match. Nalbandian had owned Nadal in their last two matches, with Nadal not taking a set in either encounter. But Nadal showed what champions are really made of, coming from 3-5 down in the second (I left with Nalbandian leading 4-2, I should have had more confidence in Rafa) to win that set in a breaker, and close out the match 6-0 in the third.

1:20 PM
I’ve just come back from doing a photo of Ivan Ljubicic celebrating his 30th birthday in the player lounge. Unfortunately Hawkeye operator was not kind to the birthday boy during his match. With Ljubicic serving at 4-4 ad out in the second set... obviously a big point... Murray hit a high lob wide and the ball was called out. The Scot then challenged the call, which Hawkeye, showed the ball as landing on the line, even though in the actual review showed the ball definitely wide. Apparently what happened was that the operator chose the wrong ball to put up on the screen, the ball that bounced back on the line after first landing out. Ljubicic argued the point, but to no avail, and lost the next point which meant that he lost his serve and then Murray served out the match. When ask about this point in his post match press conference, Ljubicic commented, “it’s just a human mistake, and that’s –it’s frustrating, when you see such a clear mistake. You know, the thing is that we really wanted to take control of the human error with that machine, and then again you have a human error of the operator”.

Well, it was tough to loose that match, but later in the player’s lounge the Ljubicic family was all smiles when he was presented with a birthday cake. I was wonderful to see how he obviously takes such joy in his new son, Leonardo who was born last December 10th.

Ivan is one of the nicest and least recognized players on the tour. He was born of a Croat father and Bosniak mother in Banja Luka. The family had to leave their home because to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and eventually moved to Rijeka.

In 1993 he started playing tennis at a club near Torino Italy, and is still with the same coach Riccardo Piatti, who is like part of the family.

So today, in spite of a disappointing loss, we wish Ivan the best of birthdays.

3PM
Sybille Bammer has pulled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury giving Ivanovic a walkover, and making an already thin day of tennis even thinner.


4PM
Roddick and Fish are on a roll in the men’s doubles. They are now in the semi-final after defeating Nalbandian and Del Potro today. Of course Nalbandian was probably not in the best shape after last nights match. Who would have thought of them as a threat on the doubles draw. They’ve teamed a few times, but have never gotten past the quarter finals. It’s fun to see them play together and their friendship seems to be a plus on the court. If they get past Gasquet and Wawrinka in the semi they could meet their Davis Cup teammates, the Bryan Bros. in the final.

11:59PM
I said I was going to be out of here by midnight, so I’m wrapping it up for today.

March 17, 2009

First of all, yes, I know that this is the official St. Patrick’s Day, but everyone was celebrating on Sat. the 14th. So I just went with the flow.

9:45 AM
First thing I see when I arrive on the site is a shirtless Tommy Haas on the practice … very nice way to start the morning.

10:30 AM
I’ve shot Tommy, and Fernando Verdasco... also shirtless … but I don’t want to put you guys on topless overload so I’m only putting up a photo of Tommy, you’ll have to use your imagination for Fernando.

12:30 PM
I’m heading over to court 6 for the Brits against the Brazilians in doubles. That would be Andy Murray and Ross Hutchins, against Marcelo Melo, and Andre Sa. The court is already packed to capacity. There are no designated seats for media on this court and getting a seat was a nightmare. I hate shooting doubles, but I really need this match for an agency that I’m working with in London. I finally work out a place to shoot from in the box reserved for the scorekeeper. It’s good to have friends because photographers are not really supposed to be there, but there is not a seat to be had. Why are all these people watching doubles? Are they here for Murray? I’m sure they’ve never heard of Hutchins, and although the Sa and Melo are popular I’m not hearing any drumming so there are probably not a lot of Brazilians here. The Brits win pretty easily, 6-1, 6-3. Too bad for Sa and Melo, they’re really nice guys and a good team but Murray and Hutchins were too good today.

2:20 PM
TWO TWENTY!! Where has the day gone? Dinara Safina is on stadium one and her brother Marat is on stadium Quite a change up... it wasn’t too long ago, that Marat would have been on Stadium 1. I figure that Dinara will finish first so I start on her court. The stands are so empty it’s nearly impossible to get a photo not showing empty seats... which of course the tournament hates. I stay for 3 games... thats all I can take... and make for stadium two. Very interesting. The Safin /Isner match is packed. Of course everyone loves Marat, and Isner is the young American hopeful, so there are a lot of fans. Big John is serving up 139 MPH aces again, and Marat is being … well, Marat.

Isner has an odd habit of carrying his towel in his mouth when

they change ends. The woman next to me notices and comments that they have a security guard stand next to Safin when the players are changing ends, but not for Isner. Maybe they feel the Isner is big enough to protect himself. Or maybe the security guard is needed in case the mad Russian goes mad. It’s over... Isner wins 6-4, 6-4, and Marat leaves Indian Wells for the last time. He plans to retire at the end of the year, and we all will definitely miss him.


4:15PM
Next up on Stadium One is Nadal and Tursunov. I know and like Dmitry .. but I don’t feel like walking all the way down to the court to shoot this match. It’s hot, hot, hot, down there today, and I know I’m going to get another shot at Rafa in his next match. I know that doesn’t sound like I have a lot of confidence in Tursunov .. but the truth is,
in this situation .. I don’t.

11:44PM
OH MY WORD .. I’m still here, I’m watching them wash the courts on TV!! Very interesting. Ivanovic and Pennetta are still playing. Who invented this sport with endless matches? Ivanovic is up 5-4 in the third, but they keep going deuce ad, deuce ad .. Ok Ivanovic has an ad let’s see if she can close it out. No.. she nets a forehand and Pennetta is serving at deuce again. Uh Oh.. Ivanovic has another ad .. Pennetta netted a ground stroke and Ana is dancing around so it must be over.
That’s it for today. More to come tomorrow

Friday the 13^th

Well, so far the day is going pretty well. Arrived in the desert around noon, picked up credentials, stored my gear, and hit the dining room. Indian Wells definitely has the best media dining on the tour. Beautiful patio and excellent cafeteria featuring very nice salad bar, pasta, hot entrée, fresh fruit, gorgeous strawberries. It’s the only event that allows media, to actually dine with the PLAYERS! Oh my word. Huge privilege! Most other venues treat us as though we have very bad table manners, must have strict supervision, and need to be kept in separate quarters from royalty.

Rafa was in line in front of me... wow... Even better and taller up close. He had a large portion of salmon and rice in case you want to eat like a champion.

1PM

Finished with lunch, checking out the draw, frankly there aren’t any matches that are really inspiring, so I decide to go for the eye candy. I head out to Stadium 3 for Tommy Haas, better known among women on the tour as Tommy Hottie. Tommy’s up a set against Oscar Hernandez and its 3-2 in the second. I settle in and grab a few snaps.

3:30 PM

Tommy wins his match and I wander over check out the practice courts. This is always a popular place at Indian Wells, a chance for the public to see players up close and personal. I catch Marat Safin on court two then try to get close to court one... huge crowd watching Federer practice hitting ground strokes. Dinara Safina is playing on Stadium one and is in a first set breaker against Tsvetana Pironkova, but there are a lot more people watching Federer practice. See what I mean about uninspiring matches?

4PM

UH OH... remember when I said Friday the 13^th and everything is going well? Okay, spoke to soon. Can’t get Blogger.com to respond. Darn... I need to get this blog up. Well, I can only do the best I can. I’ll keep writing and try to post later. I’ll figure something out. Meanwhile I notice on my TV monitor that Taylor Dent won the first set and is up 5-4 in the second …I wanted to shoot that match!! How did it go so fast? Oh well, at least he won so I’ll catch him in the second round.

4:30PM

Finally, I'm getting around to editing some of my photos. Got a couple of nice ones of Tommy... of course getting good photos of him is not too difficult.

5PM

BNP has invited the media to a reception where they will unveil the new trophy. On my way over, I see that there is still a huge crowd around court one. I grab a camera and get some cool photos of Roger signing autographs. The fans are thrilled, he’s really nice and giving them a lot of time.

5:30PM

Wow, BNP knows how to put on a party. There is nothing the media likes better than free food and drink, and this is first class. Tables with sushi, cheese, fruit, mini hamburgers and shrimp burgers. Excellent red or white wine. Mini cupcakes and my favorite… chocolate covered strawberries.

7PM. Hmmm really don’t want to do anymore work now. Ate way more than I should have... but they kept coming around with yummy things that were really hard to resist. Only had one glass of red wine, but seriously need a nap right now.

8:05 PM

Lopez and Nadal have split sets with Cermak/Mertinak in first round doubles. I’d like to have some photos, but it’s nearly impossible to shoot doubles at night, so I’m going to give it a pass. This was scheduled to be a day match and it’s already after 8... OH MY WORD… we are going to be here all nite. Still have the “Salute to Heroes”, then Roddick and Fish doubles, against Chardy and Simon, then Radwanska and Kuznetsova. Hmmm Friday the 13^th strikes again.

8:23

Rafa and Lopez win 10-7 in the super breaker.

8:59

Roddick and Fish are finally on... At least it’s only a doubles match so even if they split we won’t have three sets.

10:10PM

Forget Kuznetsova, I'm outta here.

10:15 PM

Making one more attempt to get this blog up...I think they have a firewall that is not letting me access the blogger site.

12:20 AM

Back at my hotel. Yep that was the problem. They have a firewall up at the site that won't let me access Blogger. Well, at least I can post now. See you in the morning.

Insider Blog

Friday the 13^th

Well, so far the day is going pretty well. Arrived in the desert around noon, picked up credentials, stored my gear, and hit the dining room. Indian Wells definitely has the best media dining on the tour. Beautiful patio and excellent cafeteria featuring very nice salad bar, pasta, hot entrée, fresh fruit, gorgeous strawberries. It’s the only event that allows media, to actually dine with the PLAYERS! Oh my word. Huge privilege! Most other venues treat us as though we have very bad table manners, must have strict supervision and need to be kept in separate quarters.

Rafa was in line in front of me... wow... Even better and taller up close. He had a large portion of salmon and rice in case you want to eat like a champion.

1PM

Finished with lunch, checking out the draw, frankly there aren’t any matches that are really inspiring, so I decide to go for the eye candy. I head out to Stadium 3 for Tommy Haas, better known among women on the tour as Tommy Hottie. Tommy’s up a set against Oscar Hernandez and its 3-2 in the second. I settle in and grab a few snaps.

3:30 PM

Tommy wins his match and I wander over check out the practice courts. This is always a popular place at Indian Wells, a chance for the public to see players up close and personal. I catch Marat Safin on court two then try to get close to court one... huge crowd watching Federer practice hitting ground strokes. Dinara Safina is playing on Stadium one and is in a first set breaker against Tsvetana Pironkova, but there are a lot more people watching Federer practice. See what I mean about uninspiring matches?

4PM

UH OH... remember when I said Friday the 13^th and everything is going well? Okay, spoke to soon. Can’t get Blogger.com to respond. Darn... I need to get this blog up. Well, I can only do the best I can. I’ll keep writing and try to post later. I’ll figure something out. Meanwhile I notice on my TV monitor that Taylor Dent won the first set and is up 5-4 in the second …I wanted to shoot that match!! How did it go so fast? Oh well, at least he won so I’ll catch him in the second round.

4:30PM

Finally, I'm getting around to editing some of my photos. Got a couple of nice ones of Tommy... of course getting good photos of him is not too difficult.

5PM

BNP has invited the media to a reception where they will unveil the new trophy. On my way over, I see that there is still a huge crowd around court one. I grab a camera and get some nice photos of Roger signing autographs. He’s really nice and giving fans a lot of time.

5:30PM

Wow, BNP knows how to put on a nice party. There is nothing the media likes better than free food and drink, and this is first class. Tables with sushi, cheese, fruit, mini hamburgers and shrimp burgers. Very nice red or white wine. Mini cupcakes and my favorite… chocolate covered strawberries.

7PM. Hmmm really don’t want to do anymore work now. Ate way more than I should have... but they kept coming around with yummy things that were really hard to say no to. Only had one glass of red wine, but seriously need a nap right now.

8:05 PM

Lopez and Nadal have split sets with Cermak/Mertinak in first round doubles. I’d like to have some photos, but it’s nearly impossible to shoot doubles at night, so I’m going to give it a pass. This was scheduled to be a day match and it’s already after 8... OH MY WORD… we are going to be here all nite. Still have the “Salute to Heroes”, then Roddick and Fish doubles, against Chardy and Simon, then Radwanska and Kuznetsova. Hmmm Friday the 13^th strikes again.

8:23

Rafa and Lopez win 10-7 in the super breaker.

8:59

Roddick and Fish are finally on... At least it’s only a doubles match so even if they split we won’t have three sets.