Unfortunately I didn't get to the tournament today until after 12 as the public transport is a real pain because of World Youth Day, a tip for anyone going tomorrow, go via Finch and then you should miss the worst of it.
When I first got there I ventured to the practice courts outside of the stadium complex and there were MANY top stars practicing.
I first saw Safin and Kafelnikov practice together, both were only in shorts
and they seemed to get on really well and they spoke to each other in English
There are 4 practice courts there, on the one next door to it I couldn't figure out who was playing as I don't follow the ATP as much as I used to but he seemed to be very talented and he was practicing all kinds of shots.
Next door Pete Sampras was with Wayne Ferreria, I didn't watch too much of that but Sampras does look a lot slower now.
Then Greg was on the next court.
After I got into the stadium complex (which was about 1.10) I saw that they were going to do the main draw live last year, and if you are one below 48th in the draw you get a chance to pick a name at random out of the pot and also win a prize.
I was really lucky and I was #39 in the queue and I drew out Nicolas Kiefer and then I won my prize and it was a head tennis raquet I was so happy and here comes the best part Thomas Enqvist presented the prize to me, I had this weird smile on my face and I didn't know what to say to him, I just said thanks and shook his hand, and that really made my day after all the trouble of getting there.
Then there was a hockey match between some stars of the ATP and NFL, there was Enqvist again, Roger Federer and Thomas Johansson, it was pretty good but I notcied that Johansson had a knee brace on but he seemed to be moving very well, at the draw they said that Magnus Norman would be playing but he was nowhere to be seen.
Afterwards I went to centre court and Federer was practicing with Fabrice Santoro, Federer throughout the practice seemed to be upset and he wasn't playing particularly well but he stayed around quite a bit after his practice session ended and signed LOTS of autographs, and he also had a hockey top (I think) with F-E-D-E-R-E-R on the back.
Next up on the Centre court was Richard Krajicek and Younes El Aynaoui (sp) they were on there for about 1 hour and they started off slowly but were playing points near the end, Krajicek was moving VERY well and I think he will do well.
I left after the practice session but I got James Blake's autograph who was very nice, and what has been written about him his very true, he is defintely one of the nicest players.
When I first got there I ventured to the practice courts outside of the stadium complex and there were MANY top stars practicing.
I first saw Safin and Kafelnikov practice together, both were only in shorts
There are 4 practice courts there, on the one next door to it I couldn't figure out who was playing as I don't follow the ATP as much as I used to but he seemed to be very talented and he was practicing all kinds of shots.
Next door Pete Sampras was with Wayne Ferreria, I didn't watch too much of that but Sampras does look a lot slower now.
Then Greg
After I got into the stadium complex (which was about 1.10) I saw that they were going to do the main draw live last year, and if you are one below 48th in the draw you get a chance to pick a name at random out of the pot and also win a prize.
I was really lucky and I was #39 in the queue and I drew out Nicolas Kiefer and then I won my prize and it was a head tennis raquet
I was so happy and here comes the best part Thomas EnqvistThen there was a hockey match between some stars of the ATP and NFL, there was Enqvist again, Roger Federer and Thomas Johansson, it was pretty good but I notcied that Johansson had a knee brace on but he seemed to be moving very well, at the draw they said that Magnus Norman would be playing but he was nowhere to be seen.
Afterwards I went to centre court and Federer was practicing with Fabrice Santoro, Federer throughout the practice seemed to be upset and he wasn't playing particularly well but he stayed around quite a bit after his practice session ended and signed LOTS of autographs, and he also had a hockey top (I think) with F-E-D-E-R-E-R on the back.
Next up on the Centre court was Richard Krajicek and Younes El Aynaoui (sp) they were on there for about 1 hour and they started off slowly but were playing points near the end, Krajicek was moving VERY well and I think he will do well.
I left after the practice session but I got James Blake's autograph who was very nice, and what has been written about him his very true, he is defintely one of the nicest players.
