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.

March 28, 2008

Took the red eye last night arriving at my hotel, The Mayfair in Coconut Grove, at 7AM. Now, I know that normal check in is around 3, but thought I’d take a chance and see if I could get a room. I was told that check in was at 4PM, they did have rooms available, but the fee for early check in would be $50.00!! Wow, in view of the state of the hotel business, you would think they would be happy to have paying guests, especially one that is staying 10 days. I was able to negotiate a deal with them, but personally, I think this is outrageous.


1:40 PM
The clock on the wall reads 1:40, and my computer reads 10:40, the three hour time difference is a killer.

I finally made it here and am starting (slowly) to get some work done. Organizing my desk and locker, was a little challenging, most of the lockers were either broken or already in use, and another photographer was using my desk, but I finally have it sorted out and am about to go take some photos.

Took the red eye last night arriving at my hotel, The Mayfair in Coconut Grove, at 7AM. Now, I know that normal check in is around 3, but thought I’d take a chance and see if I could get a room. I was told that check in was at 4PM, they did have rooms available, but the fee for early check in would be $50.00!! Wow, in view of the state of the hotel business, you would think they would be happy to have paying guests, especially one that is staying 10 days. I was able to negotiate a deal with them, but personally, I think this is outrageous.

4:30 PM
Mardy Fish has joined the waxed leg league. Does this really make tennis players more aerodynamic or do they just like smooth legs? He’s playing Nicolas Massu of Chile and the Chilean and US fans are fighting a war of flags and cheering. Fish puffs out his cheeks every time he hits the ball making it nearly impossible to get anything really good... or at least attractive.

5:45 PM
Well, I won’t have to worry about getting good shots of Mardy anymore for this event. He lost in 3 sets to the gritty Chilean, kinda re-enforces my theory that marriage is bad for your tennis.

10:15 PM
How in the world did it get to be 10:15 PM? I am the person who was going to be in bed by ten. In the fashion watch department, I like both Venus and Peer. Venus tie dye is a cool departure from all the standard colors. The purple and pink looks great on the purple court and the ruffles at the hips give her otherwise boyish figure a nice line. Shahar looks great in the red two piece from Reebok, a much more standard look, but I like the detailing on the back, and the subtle ruffling on the hemline.
On the celebrity watch… Minnesota Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie watching Venus.

Finally the Final Day

I thought I’d be winging west this afternoon, but no, I’m not going to be on that flight until early tomorrow morning. The men’s final is scheduled for 5 PM today, so I’ll be spending one more day at the US Open.

Since this really is my final day at in NYC, I decide to take a last walk in Central Park. This is always one of my favorite ways to start the day. It’s so different from my morning walk on the beach in Southern California. I love the fact that I can experience them both.

The huge trees in the park are so beautiful, forming a shady canopy over the walkways. We don’t have trees like this in So Cal. We have Palm Trees.. tall silly things that don’t help a bit in the shade department. One thing I have noticed is that in places with outdoor dining, Angeleno’s (people who live in Los Angeles) fill up the tables in the shade first, and New Yorkers prefer the ones in the sun. I also notice that Angeleno’s wear dark glasses, and New Yorkers wear dark suits. Angeleno’s read the entertainment pages first, and New Yorkers the financial section. I could go on and on, but lets continue with my walk.

A jazz saxophone is playing, “What the World Needs Now, is Love, Sweet Love”... so nice, so true. This older jazzman is terrific... love the pink satin shirt, the shiny shoes, the tambourine attached to his ankle, the white straw hat, and the flower that’s attached to his music case, spinning in the breeze. This cat can play and he’s got it going on! He makes me smile, I love people being themselves, I love people with initiative, I love people that try to do something special. I love the effort he’s made to make a cool appearance even though he’s just playing by himself in the park. I stop and listen for awhile, drop a few dollars in his basket and continue my walk.

A very pretty girl with a slight accent asks me to take her picture with her camera. I’m happy to do this, and tell her that I’m a photographer. I chat with her a few minutes and find that she is from Barcelona, Spain. I tell her that I work on the tennis tour and that it seems like all the men from Spain are gorgeous, like Nadal, Verdasco, Moya. I joke that maybe I should move to Barcelona, but she say’s “no, I think there are many more handsome men in the US, I’m always falling in love with American men.” Well, you know the saying “the grass is always greener”.

Strolling, on, I come to the south end of Pall Mall which is also known as Poet’s Walk. Doesn’t William Shakespeare look regal, looking down at you from his pedestal in the trees?

The paving stones in this area bear the names of people who have made an endowment to care for the trees. What a nice way to remember or honor someone. The other thing you can do is adopt a bench, this cost’s around $7,500. 00 but it is your for life. Each bench carries a personal inscription on a metal plate. They commemorate, births, lives, celebrations, and have been used for wedding proposals. I love this!! I want one! When I make a lot of money, I’m going to get one!

I’ve had a lovely morning, and now it’s time to head to work. I have a feeling that I’d better be on time because I think it could be a short match.

I was SOOO right. Roger claimed the title, 1.5 million prize money and a new Lexus. Not bad for a couple of weeks hitting a little yellow ball around. He also became the first man to win five successive titles at two different Grand Slam events (the Open and Wimbledon). Murray gets $750,000.00 plus some US Open Series bonus bucks, so he’ll take home around a million. Of course a million in US currency doesn’t go very far in Great Britain, so Andy may have to forgo any huge expenditure, but I’m sure he’ll get by.

Does it seem to you that tennis is getting a little like baseball... all about stats? We’ve been hearing about this five in a row for Federer all week, there were also some stats about Nadal if he won, and of course the stat on how long it’s been since a Brit won this event…all the numbers are making my head swim.

Winning this last Slam of the year obviously meant a lot to the Swiss former number one. This is the first year since 2002 that he has not won one of the big ones… see there we go with stats again.

The third set went so fast, it was match point before I could believe it. Murray is in very bad humor. Roger went up 5-1 in record time and was serving for the match at my end of the court, when Murray came to life a broke him... NO! This is very bad, because now Roger will probably win at the other end, and I won’t have a clean shot of him… Of course this is what happen, Roger wins the next game, fall onto the court in back of the net, I run off as many photos as I can, but I have no idea if they are I focus because I don’t have time to switch the auto focus off and so the camera is probably focusing on the net instead of Roger. You see how difficult my job can be.

I do have to say however, that Roger has the trophy photo thing down pat. He poses in every possible direction, kisses the trophy multiple times... I find it odd that he closes his eyes when he does this... like it was a romantic moment... who knows maybe it was.

So the 2008 US Open has finally drawn to an end, and I’m ready to head back to the beach. Check in with me again for future adventures, and be sure to read all about it in the Drop Shots Column.

Cynthia

Sunday in NY

Today should have been the last day for the US Open, but unfortunately the men’s semi didn’t’ finish yesterday, so Nadal and Murray will finish today. The good news is that they are not scheduled until at least 4PM, so I have the morning free to check out the Washington Square Art Fair. It’s a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in sight so I decide to walk, it’s about 3 miles from 54^th and Park to Washington Square, so I’ll work off that bagel and cream cheese I had for breakfast.

Walking along the streets surrounding the square, browsing the various art and crafts, strains of jazz coming from a alto saxophone, is a very nice way to spend some time before going to the site. I’ve been working on making collages out of my photos, and there are a few very interesting collage artists here, and some nice jewelry. I love things that are made by human hands. Something with a person’s fingerprints on it, something that someone loved making, something that is a product of someone imagination. I buy a beautiful pair of gold earrings for my sister’s birthday, and a hand made book for my little four year old cousin. Then it’s back to the hotel to get ready to go to the site.

A lot of the media people just go to the Open, and back to their hotel everyday, but I like to take in the sites, experience whatever city I’m in has to offer. What’s the use of traveling if you aren’t going to see new things, have new adventures? Meet new people.

I still have the leftovers of my great noodle salad from last night, but darn... do not have a fork and the breakfast is no longer being served so I’m going to have to be cleaver. There is an old saying that necessity is the mother of invention... ok... I’ve got it... and this is a good tip if you are ever stuck without eating utensils. Two coffee stirs make very usable chopsticks. They are a little short and thin, but I manage to eat my salad without making a mess. Of course, I’m very good with chopsticks, so you might have a little more difficulty than me, but if you’re desperate it does work.

The Brits are going mad... Sir Richard Branson is in the player box with his Mom and girlfriend watching as Andy Murray defeated world number one Rafael Nadal, to reach his first Grand Slam final. He’ll be facing Roger Federer tomorrow at 5PM. Murray is really a Scot, but the English don’t have Henman to cheer for anymore, so Andy has become their man. They are totally different players from my point of view. Henman very much the proper, well mannered Englishman, and Murray the wild Highlander.

Okay, that’s finished, now for the women. As I predicted, Serena defeated Jelena Jankovic in two sets, and with this win will also become number one in the rankings. Jankovic played a pretty good match, but was totally out powered by Serena. However,

JJ, as people call her, definitely won the fashion contest. I love her yellow dress, (I talked about this in an earlier blog) and tonight she came out with a really cute sheer little jacket over the dress, this outfit is cute enough to wear to go out, and with hemlines so short this year, it wouldn’t look out of place off the court, and the gold sparkles sprayed on her dark hair were a cool touch. Very nice Jelena.

As for Serena, her dress was a disaster in my opinion. The dark red color was not flattering and looked horrible when it got wet and stuck to her. On the plus side, she wore a BEAUTIFUL diamond bracelet on her left writs. No huge earrings, which was a surprise... these are usually won of her most prominent accessories.

Well, that’s it for tonight; I’m catching the 2AM bus back to the city.