Thursday 8 January 2009
I don't have much to report for Thursday, except I did see JCF off. :) My guess was correct! (for once) Afterwards I realised that if I arrived five minutes later, I would've missed him. Thank God I didn't....He was wearing a Ferrari t-shirt and jeans, I forgot to check the shoes for dagginess! Funnily enough his coach saw me first and stopped, and he's been quite nice this week. At least his English is good enough to communicate properly! :)

I got him to sign the calendar, and I was shaking. I don't know why! My pen wasn't working properly though, I really should be more organised. His coached asked whether I was going to Auckland - no, and I'll only be in Melbourne from Wednesday! Yes - JCF knows he has to win matches from now on. ;)

Also saw Ernests Gulbis as well, although at the time I wasn't sure whether it was him and whether he was going to Auckland as well. But after I checked the ATP photo and the entry list, that was him! That was pretty much it for Thursday, as I didn't go to the tennis at all.

Friday 9 January 2009
I got up at 9:30am today, the latest I've been all week! The odd/good thing is, I've only had coffee twice this week while I usually have it every day, or else I might get a headache. Tennis must be doing funny things to my body lol. Although the main reason is probably they only sell HOT coffee at the tennis centre, why anyone would drink something hot in this weather is beyond me. If they sold iced coffee I would probably have it everyday.

Back to the point - I arrived probably close to 11 (???) and met Christina. As we pondered what to do we eventually saw Magnus! Being the Swede, he did get us tickets (thanks!~~~!) although whoever told Magnus the tickets were "sold out", they should be fired because there were so many empty seats at the stadium. Anyway, it was rather funny that they were players box seats, but we weren't allowed to sit there because Robin is superstitous and doesn't want anyone other than his girlfriend and Magnus there. lol. We had some time to kill before the match started so we did watch a little of PHM's practice, shirtless. hmmmmmmmmm! I really should've taken more photos.



It wasn't long before the women's match finished and we had to go inside. Since there were so many empty seats, it wasn't a problem for us to find somewhere to plant ourselves ;) Today is apparantly "Myer day" or something (Myer is a department store) and they had this swimsuit parade before the match? WTF? Take this AMS Madrid! We have guys in speedos and girls in bikinis! (I'm sorry Myer, those swimsuits weren't even nice!)



I don't know what to think of the match itself. It's weird because both guys didn't hit the ball very hard, like you normally see. Radek is mega annoying with his drop shots, and I sat there wondering what his strengths are. Probably consistency? He tends to get a lot of balls back drawing the error from the opponent. I did cheer! I have the obligation to ;) and you know, I don't like Radek all that much anyway!



In this blog, there's more fangirling than tennis analysis but Robin does need to work on his concentration (I didn't want to write "mental issues", that kinda sounds bad). I'm sure we're on TV because Christina had her Swedish flags, which are banned (according the the newspapers!). Eventually, the security guard came and asked us to put the flags away - like who made that rule? We weren't blocking anyone's view (which was their reason for banning) so yeah - Steve Ayles, it's stupid.

After the match, we saw Robin, Robin's GF and Magnus heading off. Christina said goodbye to them. :) Robin's gf was quite nice too I thought! She's hot of course, like all tennis girlfriends are ;)

As there was not much to do afterwards we left. Note though, we saw Novak at the tennis centre today. Why is he still here? On the same note, Christina saw Mario hanging around - but I am avoiding him ;)

This might be the last of my reports at Brisbane, although tomorrow's OOP presents great value! Two mens semi-final matches and two mens doubles matches! (Same price as today - definitely more value for money I say)

I know I've complained a lot about the tournament in my early reports, I don't feel so negative about it now. (except for the lack of seating at the show courts, that DEFINITELY needs improving!) Hopefully the tournament wasn't that bad for the players and they'll come back next year????

I found out this morning that JCF will be practicising late afternoon. So I aimed to get to the tennis at around 1:30pm, which was when Mario v Fer was scheduled to start. I really should've checked the scores before I made the trip because the matches before were running quite late. Mario's match didn't start until almost 4pm!

I wasn't expecting Mario to win since he wasn't playing exceptionally yesterday and he will need a lot more to beat Fer. From the couple of games I saw, Mario's level is around the same but the odd thing was he didn't serve and volley all that much. He was trying to rally with Fer. ?????? He thinks that he can out-rally Fer???? It makes no sense.







Before the end of the first set JCF headed out to the practice court, earlier than expected! He was hitting with Agustin Calleri, another first round casualty. They chatted for quite a bit and were relaxed. I think this was the first time I've seen Calleri all week. @@



However, JCF was not hitting well. I don't think he got into the rthythm for the entire session. Surely, his late arrival (Saturday) contributed to his loss, and I'm hoping since he'll be in Auckland on Thursday, this will give him plenty of time to prepare properly. Let's hope....



Afterwards JCF signed autographs and took photos, as usual. As there wasn't a huge crowd I did manage to speak to him, and he asked whether I was going to Auckland. (Too bad none of my other favourites are going loool.) Oh well.

[There is a little more to Wednesday but I'll finish it off tomorrow as I'm getting tired!]

I actually took better photos today, I think I've finally worked it out that my camera takes better photos during daytime. Even through the fence is ok because it steadies the camera so my hand shaking won't be an issue.

But GAH. again. JCF lost it again! This is like the fifth time I've seen him lose the first match of the year. (2004 - Guccione @ Sydney, 2005 - Hernych @ Auckland, 2006 - Guccione @ Sydney, 2007 - Massu @ Auckland) Note that last year I wasn't there and he reached the final? Do I carry such bad luck????? Should I be banned from his matches???

Anyway, to start today's report properly I got to the tennis at around 10.30am. Not long later PHM headed out to practice with Benneteau. PHM must've read my comments about the orange shirt yesterday since he wore it today! lol. So... does it go better with white or black shorts?



I think I've mentioned earlier I'm warming up to Benneteau. He has that nice fluffy hair thing going too :) But today he had stripes of sunscreen on his face. In this country, we do encourage slip, slop, slap but how hard is it to blend it in? It is not a good look!



Then, I saw Mario heading off to a nearby court to practice so I watched that. He practiced with Luka Gregorc! In my mind, he's "Starbucks guy". Well, in my mind he also looked different so I didn't recognise him lol. This certainly helped!



Mario spoke to him in English, and they seemed friendly. After the practice Mario signed autographs and took photos etc. I wished him good luck for the match and how he was feeling - not injured???? I hope. He said he was ok, and then he asked why I asked the question.... X_X er.... just wondering? I DON'T KNOW WHY I ASKED! It just came out???? GRRRRRR. Actually, it's a bit of a blur now. I really should avoid him now. Maybe it's weird because I haven't asked him for a photo or autograph yet. He might think I have money on him looool.



After Mario's practice JCF's match was just about to start so I headed to the show court. It was PACKED! Brissy people likes JCF! (More than Mario it seems - based on the crowd numbers later on!) I attempted to sit on the stands, under the sun, but it was distracting because of the crowd. The Show Courts only has seating on one side (where the sun is). So a lot of people watch it from the shady side and they just either get chairs and sit right behind the fence or stand. The shady side was packed so people started to stand/sit on the sunny side as well, in front of the seating. This blocked the view of some of the ppl sitting on the stands so they were pretty annoyed. I'm sure this problem wasn't sorted out until the middle of the first set. So that whole time, I couldn't concentrate on the match because of the complaints and the ppl blocking part of my view! ARGH.

After the first set, I couldn't stand the heat anymore so I moved to the shady side and stood to watch the rest of the match. It wasn't the best view since I couldn't see the other side of the court very well. (Better than nothing I suppose) For this reason, I don't have many pics of this match because I could hardly see it properly myself! Honestly, I can't pretty much copy and paste my comments from his previous "1st match of the year losses" because he didn't seem to 'be there'. He had some good shots early but once Serra got ahead, he couldn't fight back. There was some brief hope in the 2nd set when he broke back but that's only because Serra double faulted. Serra also made a couple of unforced errors but JCF couldn't capitalise. After watching these types of matches I'm always pessimistic about his chances next week. But he has proved me wrong in the past so I hope this year it's the same. I like the outfit though, if it helps anything.



Next up on the same court is Mario Ancic v Amer Delic. Amer has always been in my good books because I did think he was ok but now he has shocking hair....! It's long! Needs a haircut that one. Mario on the other hand, although the yellow outfit is rather yummy, he has major co-ordination issues. Yellow shorts call for white undies Mario! See through is not a good look!



The match was close. Both of them served well (Amer's arguably more consistent than Mario's it seems) so there weren't that many long rallies. Mario did come into the net often and it worked reasonably well. I'm skeptical of Mario having his brother as his new coach. All aspects of his game needs to improve to get back to the level he once was and he really needs someone experienced to help him. (I know, it's just another way of saying I miss Fiddie but still!) He just didn't seem to have a weapon besides his serve.



While we were standing to watch the match (since we didn't want to get sunburnt!) I suddenly felt someone standing really close behind me. First I thought it was a joke from someone I know but then I turned around and it was some random guy! He was wearing a blue Lacoste shirt and seriously, I could feel his breathing on my neck. WTF? I never found out who he was, but later on, I saw Michael Llodra with his coach (I presume) wearing that same shirt. So I suspect it was Llodra's coach from before. Was he Lionel? I don't remember. But Lionel is not listed as his coach on ATP???

Anyway, as the match went on, we managed to get a couple of seats right behind the players behind the fence. We were like 3 metres behind Delic. He must sweat a lot because he changed EVERY SINGLE ITEM of clothing on his body throughout the match. I'm sure he went through 4 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, and changed even his headband, socks AND SHOES during the match. How much stuff does he carry with him???? Plus we have to put up with a pile of dirty clothing right in front of us! =.= Not impressed!

[I just realised I didn't take any Amer photos!]

Eventually, Mario won, just. That match was like 3 hours! Amer and Mario even gave each other a little hug afterwards. :) After they sat down they even chatted a little, maybe about those doggy line calls during the match lol.



I had thoughts of seeing Robin Soderling v Julien Benneteau but it might not start until almost 7pm and I was bummed about JCF... :( So we called it a day.

Mission Complete!

Thanks to Christina's tips ;) I found out when JCF was appearing today so I pretty much had the morning free. Apparantly Mario had already practiced (this was at 9.30am) so I wasn't expecting to see him at all. But thought it was weird - unless he's going somewhere else for those tourist things????

Anyway, I haven't actually given anything to JCF for a couple of years now and this time, I made an effort! loool. The plan was to make a calendar with fan messages on them. I had to go to the photo printing place to get a couple of the pages printed so by the time I got to the tennis, it was after noon. Here's the finished product (sorry I didn't take a pic of each page, but yeah, most of it is my old site layouts! whooo. I'm so lazy!)


The front cover (in action!) & what the pages look like

( read the long ramble with photos )