Tennis Anyone?

We went back to the “candy store” a.k.a. Roland Garros on Tuesday.  I got into the grounds and had a ball while Dad/Rick hoisted his big press pass and attended every press conference after the big matches. He got to ask questions and took full advantage of course, of the opportunity to ask a question to Rafa, Maria, Serena and Victoria Azarenka. His question to Rafa was even picked up by ESPN!  He was having a pretty awesome time but tried not to act too excited since they wouldn’t give me a press pass too!  I saw some terrific stuff though and had a lot of fun watching play on the clay of almost anything I wanted to see on the giant outdoor screens.

At the first of the day, all the ball boys and girls came running in like an army of red, chanting something in French and obviously having the time of their lives!

I did get a chance to slip into the press area for a front row seat to see Ferrer.

People were hanging from the rafters to watch!

Instead of giving free samples of stuff this year, they had jugglers and balloon-hat-makers to entertain the crowds as they walked by:

I watched the American David Young lose to a handsome young man who for some reason decided to tatoo his neck with a bright purple swatch. Hummm? Ideas anyone? Maybe he wanted to cover a birthmark?  Strange!

The big screens were really fun because sometimes there were as many people outside the arena as there were in….

Mostly the big players won easily without too much drama, but I think we saw the match of the tournament as we watched Serena gradually lose to a wonderful French woman who had lost her husband/coach to a serious illness last year.  The crowd was ecstatic when Victorie Razzano won in a tie breaker on the second set and went on digging for every point to the very last one. The last game was about a half an hour long and each of them had several (like 5 or 6) match points! It was the most incredible match either of us had ever seen!

Even though Razzano looks pretty discouraged here, in the end, the audience (including the new President of France who was there) was ecstatic! They let everybody on the grounds in for the last set so it was a fun and raucous atmosphere to say the least!

So much to see! Such a fun day…press conferences included!