My good friend Michelle who works with me in primary, had just turned on the radio the other day when they said that they had tickets for the tenth caller. She had no idea what the tickets were for, but she called in and was the 10th caller. Then she found out she had just won tickets for the evening of March 14th at the
Our seats were right above the green stripe. High up, but still a good view. Evey seat has a pretty decent view of the court.
(It was a lot less crowded when we were there.)
BNP Paribas Open. She had to work that night, and called us to see if we wanted them, since Ossil is a former professional tennis player. I said yes, even though I had no idea how or who was going to use them. We wanted to avoid paying for a babysitter, so I told Ossil that he should go with my dad. He was planning on it, but he had been so busy the past few days, that he was tired out. He just wanted to spend time with the kids. So he didn't want to go. What a great husband. Anyway. It was getting almost time to go, I had no idea what to do with these tickets, so I called my mom, and she wanted to go. So we went together. It was so much fun. It is such a beautiful place. It is amazing that I am married to a former professional tennis player, because I know almost nothing about tennis. Maybe if I had been married to him while he played tennis I would know more. Anyway, we got there, and we had no idea what to do or where to go. We wandered around trying to figure out where to go. Then we decided that we should just go to the seats our tickets specified in the main stadium. We were up on the 4th level, and we went up and sat down. Two women were playing - a 17 year old Russian named Pavlyuchenkova vs. number 2 in the world Jankovic from Serbia. Well it was very exciting. The 17 yr old Russian beat the #2 in the world with 6-4, and 6-4 score. Then we stayed and watched the 13th ranked the world James Blake (USA) and a guy named Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) ranked 38th. That game was extremely exciting. They were constantly getting Deuce (a tie right before you and score a real point). Nieminen was not nearly as strong as James, but he was better at control. James was very powerful but made so many errors. In the end James won because I think he was stronger and had more endurance, but the game was so close. It was so fun, and we learned so much about tennis from being there. We were amazed at the technology. A player can challenge the referee's call 3 times. And when he does, the computer puts up on the big screen a computer animation of a ball flying through the air and bouncing off the court, and leaving a mark where it landed. So you can see if the ball was in or out. Several times when the players challenged, they were right. The ball just moves so fast, that the referees just can't always be right. It was amazing to watch, and fun as well.
James Blake (13th) USA
Jarkko Nieminen (38th) Fin
Mom said that that is what we could give her for her birthday present. I think she enjoyed it, I know I did. Thanks for going with me mom. It was just such a great, fun night. It is not often we go to major sporting events. I really liked it, everyone is so civilized. No one paints their faces or is obnoxious in tennis matches. Everyone is quiet. Also tennis is fun to watch. There really is constant action. I don't enjoy watching football or baseball, because it seems so boring. I think basket ball is much more interesting to watch, so is tennis. It really was a fun night. I am so glad I went, I will have to go again next year if we can get cheap or free tickets. I hear the first two days are totally free. Next year when Ayden is in Kindergarten, I might just have to see if that is an option.
A lot of people I know had their kids working there as ball kids. They are the ones that run after the stray balls and then give the players the balls for serves. The kids volunteer there for two weeks, so they have to miss school, but it sounds like a lot of fun, and a great opportunity. They have to try out for it. A few people I know are ball moms. They teach the kids how to do it, and watch over the kids for the two weeks. That also sounds like a lot of fun. If anyone is interested, keep checking the tennis garden's website during the year to learn more.
I guess I need to take some more tennis lessons and learn to play. It was a blast, thanks Michelle, thanks Mom, thanks Ossil!!
