April 4 2009 Womens Final

11:30 AM
I arrive at the site and start to get organized for the women’s final at 12:30. First thing I need is my daily Mango Smoothie. This has been my breakfast for the last 10 days. Yep, I’m just having breakfast. Had a late night at the club on the roof of my hotel. Very nice. I’ll be going back there tonight and will do a photo, but last evening was strictly social. No photography. I needed and deserved it.

12:30 PM
The tournament has given out orange hats to everyone entering the event. The stands look like one of the famous Florida orange groves.

1:00 PM
It’s hot and humid on court. Azarenka is using a towel filled with ice around her neck on every changeover. I need one of those.

2:30 PM
Well it’s all over. Azarenka won in two sets. Serena, playing with a huge bandage on her left thigh, was visibly hurting. As glad as I was to get it done in two sets, it was a shame for the fans. Serena obviously could not run and the second set was a blowout.

When Mary Jo Fernandez asks Serena about playing injured, Serena was gracious, replying that she didn’t want to make excuses, and that today Victoria deserved all the credit.

3:45 PM
All the photographers pile into two vans to go to the beach for a photos hoot with Azarenka. Just as we get there, it starts to rain. We pile back in the vans and go back to the site to do the photo in the Sony Corporate tent. As usual it’s a nightmare. Twenty photographers pushing, shoving, shouting for attention. I take these things pretty casually, do a few snaps and don’t get involved in the craziness.

Victoria is tall and attractive with lots of long blond hair. She has a reputation for not always being the most cooperative person, but today she’s in a great mood, posing and smiling. The photo is nothing special. They stand her in front of a wall of tennis balls and that’s it. It only rained a few drops, so it’s a shame we couldn’t have done something really nice at the beach.

4:50 PM
I am a happy person. I got one trophy shot that I really like! This is always another challenging situation. Lots of pushing, shoving, and shouting at the player... “Look this way” “VICTORIA!” “This way please” “One over here”. .. Its times like this that I don’t want to admit that I’m part of the photographic media. They do behave badly. It’s no wonder that we often have a bad reputation. Again, in these situations, I just go about my business and get the best photo I can. The tournament photographer here saves me a place in the front so I don’t have to worry about standing behind tall men. This annoys the other photogs greatly, but those big guys would think nothing of knocking me down to get a spot.

5:05 PM
They have just announced that the last press shuttle we will leave at 5:30 PM, so I’m going to have to call it a day.

April 3, 2009

10:00AM

The tournament runs complimentary shuttles to the site for the media from all of the official hotels. Each driver has his musical preference, one likes, jazz, another oldies, this morning we had the hip hop driver, so I’ve got the beat, I’m fired up and ready to go!!

12:00 PM

I love the tropical atmosphere here. Tall stately Palm trees line the entrance,

turquoise and yellow umbrellas give shade to diners at the food court. Latina women in skin tight shocking pink Capri pants teeter on five inch platform shoes, while dark eyed men observe appreciatively. Strains of Bossa Nova guitar and congo drums playing on the Sony stage send Latin rhythms over the park. It’s like a separate little island, different than any other place in the US.

Most people think of the Cuban population in Miami as beginning in 1959 when the first refugees fleeing the Castro regime arrived in South Florida, but because of the proximity of the state to Cuba, there has been a long history of relations and trade.

However it was after the revolution in 1958 when Fidel Castro took control of the island country, that the real exodus of Cuban’s to Miami began.

Approximately 1.1 million Cubans now live in Miami. They’ve brought their culture, music and food.

Miami has a Latin flavor that is unmistakable. One of my favorite restaurants is in Little Havana. Heaven only knows why, but the name of it is “Versailles”. It’s a busy noisy place with family’s celebrating everything from birthday’s to weddings. People come in jeans or wedding dresses. The food is great and the atmosphere and people watching are outstanding. Now that I’m thinking about it... I’m going to get out of here early and go there tonight.

3:00PM

Well, I’ve never seen Roger slam a racquet on the court and totally destroy it. With Djokovic up 3-0 in the third, the normally cool and calm Swiss lost it. I was so surprised that I missed the shot, but got this one when he went to the bench.

Later in the press conference, when reporter ask him, “What was different about today that you just lost it there for that moment? “ to which Federer replied, “ I didn’t lose it. I was just frustrated. Just because I smashed the racquet doesn’t mean I lose it."Oh really? That’s not the way it looked from where I was sitting.

7:00 PM

The much anticipated match between Del Potro and Murray is about to begin. The British press is out in full force, and the Argentine fans are packing the stadium. Seasoned reporters are all betting on Murray. Should be interesting.

7:50 PM

Murray just won the first set 6-1. There is no doubt in my mind that he's going to win the match. I'm out of here. On my way to the Cuban restaurant.

April 2, 2009

9:00 AM I start my day with a walk in Coconut Grove.
Established in 1873, “The Grove”, as the locals call it, has attracted the creative crowd of every sort, artists, writers, and musicians, and a good share of eccentrics and free spirits. The shaded streets, gardens heavy with fuchsia bougainvillea, are inviting, and cool in the morning. An Indian restaurant has beautiful long silk hangings blowing in the breeze. I can’t resist stopping to take photos. Lovely. I’m going to use the idea somewhere in my house.

By 10: AM the village starts to wake. I browse in the art galleries, and yes, have a look in some of the shops. Pink, orange, turquoise, and bright floral clothing, entice you to purchase something totally impractical and fun. Something that says’s, “Miami”.

1:30 PM
Okay, I can’t put it off any longer; I have to go do some photos of Kuznetsova and Azarenka.

2; 40 PM

Fashion watch, if Fila hopes to sell that red and white outfit, Kuznetsova is the wrong person to be wearing it. The long stripe of white in the middle would only look good on someone built like Hantuchova. On Kuznetsova, its not only unattractive, it’s downright embarrassing. The baby doll neckline and the little short pleated skirt are just not Kuznetsova. She needs to be in something more tailored and athletic.

As For Azarenka, I’m sure a male must have designed her dress; no woman would design something to play tennis in that should only be worn with a strapless bra. Come on Nike, you can do better than that… again, not a good advertisement for selling this dress.

7:20 PM

Nadal and Del Potro. This was definitely the best match of the tournament so far. It was like a Davis Cup Tie. Argentina against Spain. The Argentine’s outnumbering the Spanish, chanting “Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole! DelPo! DelPo! Dueling Spanish and Argentine flags waving wildly on every point. In the heart stopping last game, Nadal fought off 3 match points... two with ace’s, but couldn’t keep the momentum up and lost the breaker. I’m thinking that he may need to let his hair grow longer again, and get a new hotter outfit. He just didn’t look like the same Rafa. Curiosity watch; have you noticed the way Del Potro hitches up the left leg of his shorts when he returns serve? Does he think this makes him run faster... but doesn’t he need to run fast when he serves too? Someone said that maybe it’s a superstition. Now, I’ve heard of a lot of crazy superstitions, but this would take the prize.

8:35 PM

Andy Murray has just wont he first set against Fernando Verdasco 6-1. It may not be a long evening after all.

9:13 PM
I hear the announcers say “ANDY MURRAY!”… The TV monitor tells me it was 6-1, 6-2. Very nice Andy, and thank you, I’d love to get out of here before midnight tonight.

11:05 PM
Looks like getting out of here by before midnight was not in the cards. The sisters split, and it’s 4-1 Serena in the third. I’m going to finish this up, and catch the midnight shuttle. Good Night!

10:20 AM

Green Tea frozen yogurt for breakfast; an excellent antidote for last nights Green Tea Martini’s. Healthy and yummy … the perfect way to indulge.

1: 45 PM

OH MY WORD!! Na Li is up 5-0 in the first set against Serena. I’d better go and do some photos. The Chinese are certainly giving Serena a hard time at this tournament.

First Zheng, now Li.

3:30 PM

Well Serena managed to pull out a three set win, but not without a struggle and a lot of AHHHH...ing and UHHHHH…ing. Wonder if all those loud grunts and shouts are intimidating to her opponents. Letting loose with one of those ARRRUGG’s every time she hits the ball is surely saying, “watch out ... I’m hitting the ball as hard as I can”. Personally, I like the way Li goes about her business, quiet, focused and determined. No “look at me” showmanship shouting and antics. She certainly has the game, I wonder if she really believed that she could win. Up 5-0 in the first, she let Serena win 4 straight games, and finally pulled out a 6-4 victory in the first set. Li played a tough second set, but the air went out of the balloon after she lost the tiebreak, and Serena scored a 6-2 win in the third.

Fashion note: Serena left her huge earrings and huge and large diamond cuff in the dressing room, but did sport a smaller diamond bracelet, and check out those orange day glow nails.

As for Li .. Who needs diamonds when you have a hot little heart and flower tattoo.

6:00 PM

Tsonga and Djokovic proved to be as good for photos as anticipated. Both of these guys give it their all and are fun to shoot. Djokovic has lost to Tsonga four times in a row, so this promised to be an interesting match. Tsonga was tough, but Djokovic was determined, closed out the set, stripped off his shirt and threw it to cheering fans.

10:45 PM

I can’t believe I’m still here, and tennis is still going on. Roger Federer said in an earlier interview that he was looking forward to playing Andy in the quarter final, but he might want to change is tune about now. They’ve split sets and its 2 all in the third. Roddick of course has a huge following here, and he loves the energy of a packed stadium at night.

11:05 PM

Andy is serving at 3-4 in the third. The crowd is going mad. I step out on the media balcony to watch this game, even the usually blasé press is into this match. Every seat on the press balcony is full. Andy wins his serve to make it 4 all and the cheering is amazing.

11:15 PM

Well, what a difference a few minutes can make. Roger just won the third 6-4. The writers are streaming back into the press room to start their stories, and I’m finishing up this blog and heading for the hotel.

12:40 PM
IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!! I’ve spent the morning answering e-mail. Posting my official birthday photo on facebook, eating crepes, and enjoying birthday wishes from all my friends. My birthday always falls during the tournament in Miami and I used to say, “bummer, I’m in Miami for my birthday”, then all of a sudden, I thought …” what am I mad? I’m in Miami for my birthday!” Its all how you look at it right? Now I announce to everyone that it’s my birthday, and enjoy the day. There is a large Brito sculpture on site... he is a Brazilian artist that I love... and I got one of my photographer buddies to take an official birthday photo with it. It’s a large colorful heart that if I had the bucks I would definitely buy it for my house. I love it!!

12:50 PM

I really should do some photos, but Wozniacki and Kuznetsova are playing on stadium, on my birthday... are you kidding? I really don’t feel like spending even a minute of my birthday shooting those girls. Guess I’ll head out to do some Tsonga and Simon. Roddick and Dent both play later, so I’ll do some snaps of them for sure.

1:15 PM

Okay... I’ve spend the last half hour playing with my facebook. I really have to get to work.

2:50: PM
Went to my favorite place to eat onsite, The Latin Café. Great Cuban food, drink, and atmosphere. Salsa music keeps the beat, lively chatter in rapid Spanish... I’m promising myself to work harder on learning this language. I’ve turned everyone in the media room on to this place and it’s become the in place to eat. I go for a salad and “Papa Rellnos”. These are mashed potatoes filled with spiced ground meat and deep fried... I know, I know, but it’s my birthday and I’m not going to worry about calories, carbs, or anything that’s bad for you. Probably would be good to start my new year with good fresh healthy food, but what fun is that?

2:15 PM
I am really not happy with Kuznetsova right now... after being up 5-3, and serving for the match twice, she let W. come back and now they’re in a tiebreaker. PLEASE don’t let this go three sets... Roddick and Monfils are up next then Dent and Federer, and then I want to get out of here. I’m looking forward to the R &M match... both players are fun to shoot and there should be a lot of good photos. As you can tell if you’ve been following my blog, matches are not judged by quality, but by quantity of good image possibilities. Well, we all have our priorities.

3:30 PM

K and W have now split, and now I’m hoping that K looses. Anyone who wins the first, serves for the match TWICE, and looses the second set does not; in my opinion deserve to win.

4:10PM

All right!! Roddick if finally on. I’ve been waiting for this match all day. 6: PM Monfils gave it his all, and looked like he might win the first set, but Roddick will be the one moving on to the quarters.

7:30 PM

Federer won the first and is up 4-2 in the second, so it looks like this will be the end of Taylor Dent in Miami. He’s had a good run, qualifying then making it to the fourth round, defeating 18th ranked Nicolas Almagro in the second round, and 19th seed Tommy Robredo in the third. It’s great to see him back and climbing up the ranking ladder again.

7:45 PM

That’s it for today. I’m going out tonight.

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.

March 29 2009

1:30 PM
I’m sitting here looking at my TV monitor and wondering why the match scores aren’t changing and I realize that we must be in a rain delay. It’s just spitting a few drops, but they have stopped play on all courts.

2:52 PM
Looks like they are starting play, I’d like to shoot some of the Robredo, Dent match, but it’s all the way out on the Grandstand court, and I don’t want to get stuck out there if it does start to rain hard. It’s a good 10 minute walk back to the media center, and there is no shelter out there. I remember huddling under the stands trying to get some relief from the rain in past years, and this is a girl who tries to learn from past experiences so I’m going to pass on that match for now. Dent won the first set and is up 2-1 in the second, so this would be a great win for him, but I’m not going to risk it.

2:00 PM
Oh My Word, Safina and Ivanovic have just lost …Safina to Samantha Stosur, and Ivanovic to Agnes Szavay. Jankovic went back to the hotel and packed her bags last night after loosing to Dulco in straight sets. What’s going on with the women … it’s only the third round and already the 2nd, 3rd and 7th seeds are gone.

2:15 PM
Okay, I’ve stalled around long enough; it’s time to go do some photos. I’m going to the Kiefer/ Federer match because it’s on Stadium and easy to get back inside if it starts raining. For sure weather is going to dictate what matches I shoot today. I need to shoot a zillion photos of Federer to get anything usable anyway. He is probably the hardest pro to get anything good on. Deep set eyes with shadows that go completely black with the sun overhead, giving the impression that he either had a rough night or got into a fight with Safin and ended up needing a steak for the black eyes. Given his conservative nature, I doubt if either of these are true. And have you noticed how he looks down all the time... this only makes matters worse. I want to should, “hey Roger! Look up! Give us a photo!” but of course I can’t so I just keep shooting and trying different angles hoping to get lucky.

4PM
Kiefer is another member of the clean legs gang, and I’m noticing a little belly growing on Roger. Is this a sympathy stomach for Mirka has he been sharing her food cravings?
5:30 PM
I finally got myself over to the grandstand court and was rewarded with a great match. Safin and Monfils, two guys who give good photos. If there are any female Marat fans out there check out this photo… definitely a pinup. I love the way he walks with a little swagger from side to side, arms held slightly away from his body, the whole attitude saying “I am Elite Russia Athlete”. Too bad he is planning to retire at the end of the year; He’s brought a lot of fun and color to the game. I would have liked to see him go further in the tournament, but you’ve gotta love Gael Monfils. No only is he colorful and fun, but the tennis can be amazing. Safin was serving for the match at 5-2, but Monfils never gave up and ended up winning in a tiebreaker. Great stuff.
Next up is Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, another guy I love to shoot, against Robert Kendrick; a young American who has just broke into the top 100. Kendrick has a good first set, but is no match for the French Muhammad Ali look alike.

10:55 PM
HOW IN THE WORLD DID IT GET TO BE TEN FIFTY FIVE PM? I have no idea where the day went, and I promise I have been working steadily, no socializing not even one glass of wine at the happy hour. I’m thinking that I really want to blow out of here, but Blake just lost the first set to Berdych, and I’m wondering if I need to stay.

11:05 PM

Blake is up 2-1 in the second, I'm just going to hope he wins and pack it in for the night.

Tune in tomorrow for more adventures with Cynthia from the Sony Ericsson.