Wimbledon Count Down Is On

As  Woody and I prepare for our next tennis adventure, the count down has begun to the start of Wimbledon 2010.  We are leaving on the 17th for London with plans to join the Wimbledon Que on the first day of play.  I'm a little nervous about this experience as I am afraid we will not be successful.  I'm sure I'll be up early worried that we will be too late to get a queue card guaranteeing that we get a ticket on to the grounds.  But so far the plan is to wake up on Monday the 21st and get tot he queue around 6:00/6:30.

Woody also has come up with a plan for planing on grass courts while in town.  I'm not overly excited about bringing all of our tennis gear to England, but I might be out voted on this one.  If he is able to get court time then I be glad we brought our tennis stuff with us.  I'll have to keep you posted on this one.

Roland Garros 2009

The red clay of Paris is the start of spring for Parisians and for Woody and I it was a tennis adventure come true. After having watched year after year we were finally there ourselves. Since we were beginners at the ticket auction we got general admission tickets for two of the three days we attended. We found out on the third day that we could buy a ticket upgrade at 5pm for PHILIPPE CHATRIER or SUZANNE LENGLEN.

It was really crowded and the courts with the best action had the longest waits to see the matches. We got on line and parked ourselves to watch the matches on the court we called home each day.

Being a major event everything was expensive and the lines were long. Debbie found out that the bathroom in the museum was never crowded so that's were we went.

We never got to see any singles matches but did get to see plenty of doubles. The last time I saw Tommy Robrado he lost in Miami. His results were better in Paris although he was rough on his partner.

Leander Paes and his partner ended up making it to the mens doubles finals. We saw them early in the tournement. Leander won Wimbledon with Martina Navratilova several years ago.

Gael Monfils on the practice courts.

Getting Ready for the French Open

Well it's time for another tennis post. Woody and I are off to the French Open in little over a week. We leave on May 27th and have tickets for the 28th, 29th and 31st. I plan on posting tennis stuff here and sightseeing stuff on Reneesdaytoday.blogspot. I am soooooo excited!

Mixed Doubles

Woody and I played together during week six the of the Summer Mixed season. We lost but we sure put up a good fight. The score was 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). I was so hot after the match that I went straight home and jumped in the pool.

Anne-Grete took these pictures for me!

Even though we lost I don't think I look that fat.

Spring ALTA C-2 Playoffs 2008

Another tennis season has come to an end and the Smoke Rise Queens were victorious! We took first place for our division and the bag tag with 26 points. What a wonderful season.

Here is just ten of the 22 women on our team. Notice our team coach, Tim dove amongst the winning Queens.

This season we added Sally and Dottie with the rest of the gang all coming back! Laurie took over as captain and with her leadership we went all the way.

Today was the second day of the playoffs. On Saturday, round one, we beat the team from Marietta. Connie and I played 4's together and we won in three sets. Today, round two was a little harder. Connie and I ended up losing our match in three sets. In the end the Queens lost for the day, but we are the true winners because we have a great team and we all enjoy the camaraderie that comes from being together. Finally, it probably ended as it should as Michelle said the team out of Emory was the toughest team she ever played and that includes her days at B level and we would have had to meet them at some point.

Here are some action shots from the day. It was great to be a queen this spring!!!!!!

Sally & Jeanne on the far court

Me and Connie (I'm glad it's from behind.)

Here is Linda and Sandra getting ready to hit another winner!

Here is a short video of Sally and Jeanne winning a point

A Little Bit of Roger!

What would a tennis tournament be without the

"Worlds # 1"?

Wrong #1

Roger Federer!

The Sony Ericsson would not have been any fun without Roger! We got really lucky and saw him on the practice courts and playing a night match against Gael Monfils.







Here is a short video of some of the action we enjoyed in Miami.

Here are some shots, a little grainy because we couldn't use the flash.

Finally, You haven't seen Roger if you haven't seen Mirka.

Here'sssssssss Mirka!

Sony Ericsson Open 2008

Crandon Park 3/27/2008

The day started off a little rough with our flight out of Atlanta canceled. We were booked on the next flight which turned out to be a better flight for us. Hartsfield was crowded and of course the gate had to change so there was the obligatory walking back and forth.

We arrived in Miami and went straight to our hotel, the Grand Bay Miami in Coconut Grove, dropped off our luggage and then hopped into a cab for the ride to the tournament site on Key Biscayne. $27.00 later we were in tennis heaven!

We started off by checking out the tournament site and getting a feel for what was happening and which were the best matches in progress. We realized very quickly that the action was everywhere, with players actively playing matches, warming up on the practice courts or just walking through the site along with everyone else.

Our first Stadium match was between Marat Safin and Boby Reynolds. Unfortunately Safin lost and it was only the first round. Doesn't look good for this season.

Unlike the US Open, the big name stars were everywhere and a day pass provided a great opportunity to see the best players in tennis today. We saw Nadal, Roder Federer, Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Ivo Karlovic, and Nicole Vaidisova all on the practice courts!

Friday March 28, 2008

Having decided that we couldn't afford to take a cab to the tournament site everyday we bought a tournament transportation pass for $25.00 a piece leaving, from several hotels in Coconut Grove. Of course our hotel was not on the pick up list, but that was okay. We walked over to the Mayfair Hotel to catch the bus and we were off for another great day of tennis.

We decided to spend the day in the stadium as the best matches were taking place there. We started off with Justin Henin v. Angelique Kerber. The match was
great with Justin bring home an easy win.

We then were treated to Serena beating Edina Gallovits.

The day continued with a most excellent match between Novak Djokovic and Kevin Anderson. Djokovic appeared to falter once the crowd turned against him. His need to bounce the ball for 15, 18 times before serving annoyed the crowd and he ended up getting a warning from the umpire.

Our trip wasn't only spent watching tennis. We spent time in Coconut Grove and South Beach. We didn't have a rent-a-car, so we relied on mass transportation which turned out to be a wise choice for this initial trip to Miami. We decided that the next time we go we will rent a car and see a little more of the Miami area. The great part of this trip was that our favorite players weren't just at the tennis tournament site but we saw them in the community too. We saw Amelie Mauresmo walking around Coconut Grove and Jo Wilfred Tsonga at the Mayfair Hotel book store.

Here we are having dinner in the Grove and Dinar Safina and her coach were seated just a few tables away! (Look over my right shoulder.)

Here are a few Do's and Don't's for a beginner at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.


Do:


Plan ahead. Go to the website of the tournament the night before and see the line up for the following day. Plan on who you want to see. Remember the best players have the biggest crowds and if you are planning on competing with people who only have day passes then get to the court early. We had to watch James Blake from the side lines because the line at the Grandstand was so long. Here's a great picture anyway!





Do go check out the practice courts from time to time! Look what we found!

Tommy Robredo

Andy Murray

Serena Williams


And the "World's #1" Roger Federer!

Do remember to watch doubles! You see the best action and since most of us play doubles, you can take home some tips too!

Lindsay Davenport and Daniela Hantuchova

Do take advantage of mass transportation. Miami has a great public transportation system and free bus service from the tournament to the Birkell Train Station. Even though we paid for transportation from the hotel, we would have been better off taking the city bus. The hired bus broke down and the company hired to provide transportation were never able to catch up and keep the buses running. On Saturday night the line was long to get back to the Grove so Woody and I were the only ones smart enough to abandon the private service and hop on the city bus. Needless to say, we didn't spend a bunch of time waiting around. Better still, Miami has a website called"where's the train".com that will let you know how long you have to wait on the next train. Everyone was really nice and very helpful!

Do get out and see the sights. It's not Miami without going to the beach!

Finally, Don't forget the sunscreen and have a great trip to the Sony Ericsson Open!