March 30, 2009

Tomorrow is my birthday, today is the last day of this year for me. I want to make it count.

8:30 AM
I’m up at a decent hour today, finally getting my body on east coast time. Tomorrow is my birthday, so today is the last day of this year for me. I want to make it count; I decide that a great way to start my day is a morning walk before leaving for the site. The air is still fresh and cool. The streets of Coconut Grove empty of tourists and shoppers. I head for Bayside Park and walk along shore, the water of the bay is like blue glass, dotted with white sails and boats, a light breeze rustles the fronds of palm trees overhead. Lovely.
On my way back, to the hotel, I stop for Café Au’lait and Croissant. Very nice, I’d really like to linger, but duty calls, matches will start at 11 and will not happen again, so I need to be there to record the action.

11:30 AM
I arrive at the site to hear the very sad news that Blake lost last night. He put up a good fight and I thought he would win after taking the 2nd set tiebreak, but apparently his 2009 slump is still going strong. This leaves only Roddick and Dent as the only Americans in the men’s side, and the sisters on the women’s.

1PM
Rafa and Frederico Gil, Gil is the Portuguese qualifier so I thought this would go pretty quickly, but Gil put up a good battle against the world number one. Rafa was in poor humor, which is unusual for him. He was probably surprised that this 74th ranked upstart was giving him game. Rafa closed out the match against the aggressive Gil 7-5, 6-3, but it was clearly a struggle he wasn’t prepared for.

3:20 PM
Another top player struggles in round three. Andy Murray, the big hope for the British, dispatched the troublesome Chilean Nicolas Massu in straight sets, but not without a battle. Massu served first, won that game then broke Murray in Murray’s first service game, to go up 2-0 right away. Murray closed out the match 6-4, 6-4, but only after fighting off break points in the last game and finally hitting a winning backhand down the line.

5:15 PM
Every day from 5 to 7 the tournament serves up complimentary wine, beer, and snacks on the media dining room terrace. This is a much looked forward to event among reporters, and photographers. And the TV crew. I opt for a diet Coke as I need to stay awake for a few more hours, get my photos edited, and finish this blog while I can still type.

6: PM
OH MY WORD... Serena has on a diamond bracelet that is blindingly bright. It is causing the sun to bounce off my lens making sun spots on my photos. Right now the bracelet is all that is sparkling about Serena. Jie Zheng of China is giving her fits. Serena is going for her sixth conductive win here, and the 17th ranked Zheng is standing in her way. Williams is visibly angry. Hitting her racquet on the court until it breaks, and displaying her normal behavior when loosing… hitting the ball harder and harder and giving karate shouts that could be heard in Japan at each stroke. Zheng is cool, takes the second set, but can’t fight off the stronger Williams, and Serena is one step closer to her record.

9:05PM
I’m indulging in a banana nutella crepe for the last day of my year, and hanging it up for now.