Dream
10-15-2005, 06:15 PM
As I’ve already mentioned somewhere, I went to Kremlin Cup on Wednesday and on Friday. Here are my impressions.
Wednesday, October, 12.
I bought my ticket beforehand and it was premium, so I got access to the area where the players were! Matches started at 11 AM, but I came at 10. There were very few people there, so Yana (the admin of Misha’s site, she appears here occasionally) who was a ballkid there found me easily. She showed me everything there (I was especially interested in men’s changing room lol).
When we were standing at the entrance to the 1st court we heared “Could you please move a little” – and I saw Vera Zvonareva and Maria Kirilenko, who were about to play on that court. We followed them and took our seats. But the match wasn’t very exciting and I left after some time.
A minute later I saw Michael Llodra going for training I guess. I had been asked to tell him sth, so I kept my promise. And of course I could’t let him go withouit a photo and an autograph :)
Almost at the same time I saw Nicolas Kiefer with his coach. He was in a hurry but agreed for a photo. Unfortunately the button wasn’t pushed properly, so Nicolas and I just were just standing together smiling with no result lol ! I noticed only when Nikolas was gone.
Then I went to the central court to see Mary Pierce play. She won without any visible problems. When the match was over I left the court and (lucky I am!) met Dmitry Tursunov at the changing room. He was very friendly and agreed for a photo and an autograph. It took me ages to find a pen in my bag, but he was patient :) I was looking though a Kremlin Cup booklet searching for the page about Dmitry when he laughed and said: “Page 132”! lol I didn’t like him much before, but I’ve changed my opinion! :)
It was time for Misha’s match which I couldn’t miss. He played really good, enjoyed the match, expressed his emotions – it was a total pleasure to watchc.
A coulple of minutes later I saw the star number one of the tournament. That was Maria Sharapova surrounded by bodyguards and talking to somebody by phone (in English, BTW). As usual, she didn’t give a single autograph and didn’t pay any attention to the fans.
She left and I went on hanging out. And it was worth doing, cuz I saw Sesil Karatancheva. She’s a very nice girl, very open and friendly, not letting down anyone who came up to her. So I got an autograph. Soon Mary Pierce appeared and was immediately surrounded by fans. I didn’t miss my chance and got a photo with her.
It was afternoon already and some interesting matches were held at the same time. I decided to watch Dinara Safina/Vera Douchevina vs Elena Dementieva/ Michaella Krajicek. Dinara and Vera won quite easily because of too many mistakes made by Lena I guess. But I wanted to watch that match for another reason also :) I had been told that Marat might come to support his sister. But that time he wasn’t there :(
And then the main match of the day was about to start – Maria Sharapova vs Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Masha was playing like 101 ranking, it was especially noticeably against Anna-Lena who was in a really good shape. She easily won the 1st set, was leading in the 2nd, she had to win 2 more games to finish the match but suddenly she was injured – very seriously. She couldn’t even walk herself and was taken to the bench. The doctor tried to help her but it didn’t work.. She was almost crying but tried to play anyway. She suffered so much and had to refuse playing in a coulple of minutes.
Then I saw her walking with crutches. Everyone was trying to cheer and comfort her. She was so sad! :( I hope she recovers soon.
Immediately after the match Sharapova went for training with her father and somebody else. I followed her :). Yury Sharapov was absolutely furious! I’m not sure if they spoke Russian, but I definitely heared him tell her sth in English… That’s why I don’t think she’s Russian.
I went on hanging out again hoping to see some of the players. Besides, Yana and I wanted to tell Misha about the site. But Yana is struck dumb when Misha’s close to her. So I did all the job myself :) Misha said sth like: “Are you really making a site about me? Cool!” And then suggested to take pics with us (himself!)
The most surprising thing was that Kolya lost to Bracciali :( Can’t explain it. Maybe he was just tired.
There was one match I was interested in left - Arnaud Clement vs Igor Andreev. Arnaud was very nervous and irritated, he couldn’t play like he usually does. So Igor didn’t have any problems :)
Finally that long day was over. I spent about 10 or 11 hours at the stadium, but it was worth doing.
Of course, while hanging out I saw not only those players I mentioned, but also Max Mirny, Greg Rusedski, Dominik Hrbaty, Kolya Davydenko and others :) But they looked busy so I decided not to come up.
Friday, October, 14th
I decided to go there at the very last moment, so there were no tickets I wanted. I had to buy others, so I couldn’t get into VIP zone this time :( Fortunately, I met my friends there who were sitting closer to the court and I joined them. There were three of us with two tickets, but we managed to sit where we wanted :) (though not at VIP seats :( )
The best match of the day was Dinara vs Mashka – it was incredibly. Especially because I finally saw Marat (watching Dinara play), he was supporting his sister, telling her sth. After the match she said it helped her a lot. I was happy she won! :) BTW, I noticed there were quite a lot of people who didn’t like Sharapova. I felt like the most important thing of the day was done.
But there were some more matches to see.
Myskina – Dementyeva match was really dull. Nastya wasn’t playing, but just complaying all the time. I was glad it didn’t take much time.
Then Misha played with Dima. That was unfair! I like both of them, it was hard to decide whom to support, but I finally chose Misha :) and was upset when he lost.
Igor’s match against Bracciali was held at the same time on another court. They were supposed to play after Misha and Dima, but it was just too late already. Igor won (I didn’t even doubt! :))
I came home almost at midnight again, tired but happy.
I can’t imagine that I’ll have to wait for a whole year until the next Kremlin Cup. The only thing that cheers me is that I’m going to S.Peterburg’s Open (for one day only, but it’s better than nothing:) )
Wednesday, October, 12.
I bought my ticket beforehand and it was premium, so I got access to the area where the players were! Matches started at 11 AM, but I came at 10. There were very few people there, so Yana (the admin of Misha’s site, she appears here occasionally) who was a ballkid there found me easily. She showed me everything there (I was especially interested in men’s changing room lol).
When we were standing at the entrance to the 1st court we heared “Could you please move a little” – and I saw Vera Zvonareva and Maria Kirilenko, who were about to play on that court. We followed them and took our seats. But the match wasn’t very exciting and I left after some time.
A minute later I saw Michael Llodra going for training I guess. I had been asked to tell him sth, so I kept my promise. And of course I could’t let him go withouit a photo and an autograph :)
Almost at the same time I saw Nicolas Kiefer with his coach. He was in a hurry but agreed for a photo. Unfortunately the button wasn’t pushed properly, so Nicolas and I just were just standing together smiling with no result lol ! I noticed only when Nikolas was gone.
Then I went to the central court to see Mary Pierce play. She won without any visible problems. When the match was over I left the court and (lucky I am!) met Dmitry Tursunov at the changing room. He was very friendly and agreed for a photo and an autograph. It took me ages to find a pen in my bag, but he was patient :) I was looking though a Kremlin Cup booklet searching for the page about Dmitry when he laughed and said: “Page 132”! lol I didn’t like him much before, but I’ve changed my opinion! :)
It was time for Misha’s match which I couldn’t miss. He played really good, enjoyed the match, expressed his emotions – it was a total pleasure to watchc.
A coulple of minutes later I saw the star number one of the tournament. That was Maria Sharapova surrounded by bodyguards and talking to somebody by phone (in English, BTW). As usual, she didn’t give a single autograph and didn’t pay any attention to the fans.
She left and I went on hanging out. And it was worth doing, cuz I saw Sesil Karatancheva. She’s a very nice girl, very open and friendly, not letting down anyone who came up to her. So I got an autograph. Soon Mary Pierce appeared and was immediately surrounded by fans. I didn’t miss my chance and got a photo with her.
It was afternoon already and some interesting matches were held at the same time. I decided to watch Dinara Safina/Vera Douchevina vs Elena Dementieva/ Michaella Krajicek. Dinara and Vera won quite easily because of too many mistakes made by Lena I guess. But I wanted to watch that match for another reason also :) I had been told that Marat might come to support his sister. But that time he wasn’t there :(
And then the main match of the day was about to start – Maria Sharapova vs Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Masha was playing like 101 ranking, it was especially noticeably against Anna-Lena who was in a really good shape. She easily won the 1st set, was leading in the 2nd, she had to win 2 more games to finish the match but suddenly she was injured – very seriously. She couldn’t even walk herself and was taken to the bench. The doctor tried to help her but it didn’t work.. She was almost crying but tried to play anyway. She suffered so much and had to refuse playing in a coulple of minutes.
Then I saw her walking with crutches. Everyone was trying to cheer and comfort her. She was so sad! :( I hope she recovers soon.
Immediately after the match Sharapova went for training with her father and somebody else. I followed her :). Yury Sharapov was absolutely furious! I’m not sure if they spoke Russian, but I definitely heared him tell her sth in English… That’s why I don’t think she’s Russian.
I went on hanging out again hoping to see some of the players. Besides, Yana and I wanted to tell Misha about the site. But Yana is struck dumb when Misha’s close to her. So I did all the job myself :) Misha said sth like: “Are you really making a site about me? Cool!” And then suggested to take pics with us (himself!)
The most surprising thing was that Kolya lost to Bracciali :( Can’t explain it. Maybe he was just tired.
There was one match I was interested in left - Arnaud Clement vs Igor Andreev. Arnaud was very nervous and irritated, he couldn’t play like he usually does. So Igor didn’t have any problems :)
Finally that long day was over. I spent about 10 or 11 hours at the stadium, but it was worth doing.
Of course, while hanging out I saw not only those players I mentioned, but also Max Mirny, Greg Rusedski, Dominik Hrbaty, Kolya Davydenko and others :) But they looked busy so I decided not to come up.
Friday, October, 14th
I decided to go there at the very last moment, so there were no tickets I wanted. I had to buy others, so I couldn’t get into VIP zone this time :( Fortunately, I met my friends there who were sitting closer to the court and I joined them. There were three of us with two tickets, but we managed to sit where we wanted :) (though not at VIP seats :( )
The best match of the day was Dinara vs Mashka – it was incredibly. Especially because I finally saw Marat (watching Dinara play), he was supporting his sister, telling her sth. After the match she said it helped her a lot. I was happy she won! :) BTW, I noticed there were quite a lot of people who didn’t like Sharapova. I felt like the most important thing of the day was done.
But there were some more matches to see.
Myskina – Dementyeva match was really dull. Nastya wasn’t playing, but just complaying all the time. I was glad it didn’t take much time.
Then Misha played with Dima. That was unfair! I like both of them, it was hard to decide whom to support, but I finally chose Misha :) and was upset when he lost.
Igor’s match against Bracciali was held at the same time on another court. They were supposed to play after Misha and Dima, but it was just too late already. Igor won (I didn’t even doubt! :))
I came home almost at midnight again, tired but happy.
I can’t imagine that I’ll have to wait for a whole year until the next Kremlin Cup. The only thing that cheers me is that I’m going to S.Peterburg’s Open (for one day only, but it’s better than nothing:) )