Post by Madrid the Report on Oct 25, 2004 0:53:48 GMT
Madrid - Tennis Masters Series - Report
ETT friends
Kitzfan
Louise
Lyn
Chan
Claire
Claire's mum
Ros
Melanie
Helga
Berta
Maria - Germany
Maria - Mexico
Mariano - Tennis Player
The ETT Trip to Madrid had been planned as a special thank you to Kitzfan for her wonderful assistance in Athens - after all, the best way to thank a tennis fan for her help than to invite her to another tennis tournament.
As you can see from the message board we all spent the week chewing finger nails wishing Mariano to make the main draw without having to do the dreaded qualifying tournament, unfortunately Agassi decided he would actually attend Madrid instead of doing his usual withdraw at the last minute thing, this was most annoying!!!! so we blame him. We have to blame someone.
Ok... so Kitzfan and I decided that we would either meet at the airport - or at the tennis depending on when Mariano had to play.
The Annoying Draw Master made the first of many "mistakes" of the tournament - by deciding to put "The Flea" and Mariano's Match on first!!! - this meant that K and I could NOT meet at the airport - and we had to rush across the city before the dreaded words GSM!
My plane landed at 10.20am. I found a bus to Colon Plaza (30 minutes) then found a taxi to Calle Antonio Lopez (Hotel!) the taxi driver ripped me off (I found out he doubled the price) and wanted to know my hotel room number and take me dancing etc etc - then I told him I was meeting my husband... leave me alone.... he backed off.... I checked into to the hotel, and threw my stuff in the room, and then found another taxi (nice man this time) (total time in hotel 2 minutes and 30 seconds).
Arrived at Rockodromo 12.05pm - WOW! I was impressed!!! - THEN got lost trying to find Court1. The order of play said Court1 - but Court 1 did not exist!!! - it was called Court Alcala or something!!! - spent 10 minutes being directed to Centre Court! - then Court 2!!! - (Scream!!!!!) Eventually found Court 1.
The Flea had managed to break M - I found a seat and tried to calm down after the stressful dash across Madrid. The Flea won the first set. The Flea did not act very politely on court, and I noted several fierce glances between both players. I decided I did not like The Flea.
Mariano played a phenomenal second set, it was full of the Kitzbuhel magic we adore... Mariano took the second set at a tight tiebreak and the momentum was incredible!
THEN the B*****Y Flea took a 10 minute "break" and broke M's momentum and when he eventually decided to come back from his shopping trip! - he broke M straight away and won the third set. I don't like The Flea.
So M lost in the first round of qualifying. Madrid was not much fun. I did not know if Kitzfan had arrived or not - but we met up 10 minutes after the match - to discuss things as she had arrived during the second set. There was not enough coffee in the place to console our feelings towards The Flea.
K and I found the Hard Rock Cafe and drowned our sorrows that night. That night was a tribute to several happy memories at various tennis tournaments - especially when at midnight - the waitresses came round demanding EVERYONE got on their chairs and did the YMCA - Kitzfan said that this was a REAL tribute to a very special Kitzbuhel Memory
Sunday - we spent most of Sunday at the Practice Courts. A lovely lady on the Information desk showed us the Practice Court Schedule. We saw that Chela was practicing with Agassi at 3pm. We found this VERY interesting!!!!
Chela practicing with Agassi!!! - it did not compute!!! - Agassi!!! - Chela??? Agassi??? Chela??? did not make sense... we had to watch!!! of course!!!! We saw Chela come out and warm up. Then we saw Agassi come out and walk passed Team Chela - I thought he was a bit rude, he could have at least said hello. We worked out which court they were going to and found a spot. Suddenly it seemed like 20,000 Agassi fans were crowded round the court - on Agassi's side of the net - and then there was about 30 specialist Argentinian Fans on Chela's side of the net. When Chela and Agassi changed sides - so did the Fan Groups. This was definitely noted and approved by Team Chela!!
The Specialist Group at one point had all our cameras pointed at Chela at the same time, clicking away, and ignoring the so-called superstar who was also on court. It was a really surreal practice session. I hope Chela had as much fun as we did.
I need to send a big thank you to Chela for healing a personal bad demon that day. Thank you.
Sunday night - we found a nice bar that happened to be opposite the Players hotel..... It was amusing to see the huge crowd of fans outside. We did not join them - we watched from our bar. People staying in the Players Hotel informed me that they had not seen M at all. So everyone thought that he had either gone home or gone on to Basel - or gone to study all the Art in all the Museums.
Obviously I checked the Practice court schedule each day. No sign of him. So I used the logic that he could not got a credential to practice on the practice courts, therefore would not be appearing at all at Madrid, therefore I would SEE HIM IN PARIS!!!!!!!! -
This logical theory was blown apart when Coria appeared on Monday afternoon.........
Operation Watch Chela, Alex, Fernando and Others kicked in.
Antony Dupuis joined the "hit list". He dared to beat Calleri in front of us! BAD Dupuis. But it was ok - as it meant that Chela would play Dupuis in the 2nd round and kill him. That was the plan. Unfortunately.... even though Chela played phenomenally, brilliantly and incredibly - the annoying Dupuis scalped another Argentinian infront of us.
Kitzfan and I were meant to join the others for a meal in a Vegetarian Restaurant. We both felt really miserable, I was thinking of a good excuse, thinking I would be horrible company for the others (list above) and then Kitzfan came up and said - I WANT TO GO TO THE HRC AND GET TOTALLY DRUNK - NOW!!!!! - so we invited the others to the HRC instead of the Vegetarian.
Madrid STARTED for us at that moment!!!!!!!
The taxi driver was lovely. He earned a tip. The waiter nearly made us angry!!!! - he dared to take us to the back room!!! - our Dupuis anger was still bubbling.... WE WANTED TO SEE PEOPLE!!!! - then we saw two very well known Coaches (NON-Argentine/South American - but one is very popular!) were on the table next to us.... and we sat down quietly like good little Tennis fans... we tried to behave ourselves, but then our cheer-up thingytails arrived. They worked The waiter was also one of our favourite people that night too - he was lovely.
We planned our next day during our meal - as Alex/Fernando/Massu were all playing first, we decided that Court 2 would be the place to be. Popular Coach studied our wine bottle in its bucket - near him.... maybe we were making too much noise!!! - but hey at least we didn't spill our beer all over the table!!!!!!!!
We decided that there was one too many doubles matches on Court 2 that day - and that something should have to "happen" to a pair of doubles. The spookily that pair of doubles then walked in.... and sat at another table next to us.... that was too spooky - and amusing..... and what was really scary was that by the time their match came the next day - they had changed to Damm/Suk!!! - Kitzfan now thinks I am a witch and is scared to think anything near me again
We had lots of fun that night.... it was a great evening. THEN I checked my phone to see a message from a friend saying..... "Just thought you may like to know...... Mariano's just walked into our hotel........." As I said... the evening was perfect.
The next day.... (No we did NOT see M the night before) I decided that I would camp out at the Practice Courts all day. I know maybe it was sad, but I had not seen Mariano properly since Kitzbuhel. Athens did not really count and neither did the Flea match. He appeared at 11.15am and stayed until he got kicked off by a Tennis Clinic. It was a fun practice session. It was worth the 3 day fun-filled Chela-fest.
Player contact in Madrid was impossible, as there was a net from the ceiling to the floor protecting the public from the balls and the players from the public. Mariano was on court along with Agassi, Ferrero and Tommy Haas. Millions of noisy kids were everywhere.
Berta told me I had to get Mariano's attention and ask him to come out. She told me how she got PimPim to come out for a signing session, and how to get round the Security Guards.
Of course I was too scared to do this. THEN she said - please! - I need him to sign this!!! - I then found out that Berta was at the Bastad 2004 Final! - and had Champion Pictures that NEEDED signing.
I asked her if she would call him.. (she is taller than me!) she said, NO, sorry, he knows YOU, YOU have to do it..... (no pressure!!!) 20,000 Agassi fans around me at the time, + 30,000 Ferrerro fans, and all the Haas fans too - yeah no problem, I can call Mariano off the court.... easy!
Note to self..... BELIEVE WHAT YOUR FRIENDS KEEP TELLING YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mission accomplished. 30,000 happy kids also had an autograph session by a really nice player from Argentina. The Security Guards also had a quick "Who's Who" lesson.... but a little note to the Security Guard..... Next time you ask "Who is that..." Make sure he is not still standing behind you listening to the conversation with his trademark smile.... teasing you behind your back.... he does this!.
Mariano - Thank you for coming out to us.
ETT friends
Kitzfan
Louise
Lyn
Chan
Claire
Claire's mum
Ros
Melanie
Helga
Berta
Maria - Germany
Maria - Mexico
Mariano - Tennis Player
The ETT Trip to Madrid had been planned as a special thank you to Kitzfan for her wonderful assistance in Athens - after all, the best way to thank a tennis fan for her help than to invite her to another tennis tournament.
As you can see from the message board we all spent the week chewing finger nails wishing Mariano to make the main draw without having to do the dreaded qualifying tournament, unfortunately Agassi decided he would actually attend Madrid instead of doing his usual withdraw at the last minute thing, this was most annoying!!!! so we blame him. We have to blame someone.
Ok... so Kitzfan and I decided that we would either meet at the airport - or at the tennis depending on when Mariano had to play.
The Annoying Draw Master made the first of many "mistakes" of the tournament - by deciding to put "The Flea" and Mariano's Match on first!!! - this meant that K and I could NOT meet at the airport - and we had to rush across the city before the dreaded words GSM!
My plane landed at 10.20am. I found a bus to Colon Plaza (30 minutes) then found a taxi to Calle Antonio Lopez (Hotel!) the taxi driver ripped me off (I found out he doubled the price) and wanted to know my hotel room number and take me dancing etc etc - then I told him I was meeting my husband... leave me alone.... he backed off.... I checked into to the hotel, and threw my stuff in the room, and then found another taxi (nice man this time) (total time in hotel 2 minutes and 30 seconds).
Arrived at Rockodromo 12.05pm - WOW! I was impressed!!! - THEN got lost trying to find Court1. The order of play said Court1 - but Court 1 did not exist!!! - it was called Court Alcala or something!!! - spent 10 minutes being directed to Centre Court! - then Court 2!!! - (Scream!!!!!) Eventually found Court 1.
The Flea had managed to break M - I found a seat and tried to calm down after the stressful dash across Madrid. The Flea won the first set. The Flea did not act very politely on court, and I noted several fierce glances between both players. I decided I did not like The Flea.
Mariano played a phenomenal second set, it was full of the Kitzbuhel magic we adore... Mariano took the second set at a tight tiebreak and the momentum was incredible!
THEN the B*****Y Flea took a 10 minute "break" and broke M's momentum and when he eventually decided to come back from his shopping trip! - he broke M straight away and won the third set. I don't like The Flea.
So M lost in the first round of qualifying. Madrid was not much fun. I did not know if Kitzfan had arrived or not - but we met up 10 minutes after the match - to discuss things as she had arrived during the second set. There was not enough coffee in the place to console our feelings towards The Flea.
K and I found the Hard Rock Cafe and drowned our sorrows that night. That night was a tribute to several happy memories at various tennis tournaments - especially when at midnight - the waitresses came round demanding EVERYONE got on their chairs and did the YMCA - Kitzfan said that this was a REAL tribute to a very special Kitzbuhel Memory
Sunday - we spent most of Sunday at the Practice Courts. A lovely lady on the Information desk showed us the Practice Court Schedule. We saw that Chela was practicing with Agassi at 3pm. We found this VERY interesting!!!!
Chela practicing with Agassi!!! - it did not compute!!! - Agassi!!! - Chela??? Agassi??? Chela??? did not make sense... we had to watch!!! of course!!!! We saw Chela come out and warm up. Then we saw Agassi come out and walk passed Team Chela - I thought he was a bit rude, he could have at least said hello. We worked out which court they were going to and found a spot. Suddenly it seemed like 20,000 Agassi fans were crowded round the court - on Agassi's side of the net - and then there was about 30 specialist Argentinian Fans on Chela's side of the net. When Chela and Agassi changed sides - so did the Fan Groups. This was definitely noted and approved by Team Chela!!
The Specialist Group at one point had all our cameras pointed at Chela at the same time, clicking away, and ignoring the so-called superstar who was also on court. It was a really surreal practice session. I hope Chela had as much fun as we did.
I need to send a big thank you to Chela for healing a personal bad demon that day. Thank you.
Sunday night - we found a nice bar that happened to be opposite the Players hotel..... It was amusing to see the huge crowd of fans outside. We did not join them - we watched from our bar. People staying in the Players Hotel informed me that they had not seen M at all. So everyone thought that he had either gone home or gone on to Basel - or gone to study all the Art in all the Museums.
Obviously I checked the Practice court schedule each day. No sign of him. So I used the logic that he could not got a credential to practice on the practice courts, therefore would not be appearing at all at Madrid, therefore I would SEE HIM IN PARIS!!!!!!!! -
This logical theory was blown apart when Coria appeared on Monday afternoon.........
Operation Watch Chela, Alex, Fernando and Others kicked in.
Antony Dupuis joined the "hit list". He dared to beat Calleri in front of us! BAD Dupuis. But it was ok - as it meant that Chela would play Dupuis in the 2nd round and kill him. That was the plan. Unfortunately.... even though Chela played phenomenally, brilliantly and incredibly - the annoying Dupuis scalped another Argentinian infront of us.
Kitzfan and I were meant to join the others for a meal in a Vegetarian Restaurant. We both felt really miserable, I was thinking of a good excuse, thinking I would be horrible company for the others (list above) and then Kitzfan came up and said - I WANT TO GO TO THE HRC AND GET TOTALLY DRUNK - NOW!!!!! - so we invited the others to the HRC instead of the Vegetarian.
Madrid STARTED for us at that moment!!!!!!!
The taxi driver was lovely. He earned a tip. The waiter nearly made us angry!!!! - he dared to take us to the back room!!! - our Dupuis anger was still bubbling.... WE WANTED TO SEE PEOPLE!!!! - then we saw two very well known Coaches (NON-Argentine/South American - but one is very popular!) were on the table next to us.... and we sat down quietly like good little Tennis fans... we tried to behave ourselves, but then our cheer-up thingytails arrived. They worked The waiter was also one of our favourite people that night too - he was lovely.
We planned our next day during our meal - as Alex/Fernando/Massu were all playing first, we decided that Court 2 would be the place to be. Popular Coach studied our wine bottle in its bucket - near him.... maybe we were making too much noise!!! - but hey at least we didn't spill our beer all over the table!!!!!!!!
We decided that there was one too many doubles matches on Court 2 that day - and that something should have to "happen" to a pair of doubles. The spookily that pair of doubles then walked in.... and sat at another table next to us.... that was too spooky - and amusing..... and what was really scary was that by the time their match came the next day - they had changed to Damm/Suk!!! - Kitzfan now thinks I am a witch and is scared to think anything near me again
We had lots of fun that night.... it was a great evening. THEN I checked my phone to see a message from a friend saying..... "Just thought you may like to know...... Mariano's just walked into our hotel........." As I said... the evening was perfect.
The next day.... (No we did NOT see M the night before) I decided that I would camp out at the Practice Courts all day. I know maybe it was sad, but I had not seen Mariano properly since Kitzbuhel. Athens did not really count and neither did the Flea match. He appeared at 11.15am and stayed until he got kicked off by a Tennis Clinic. It was a fun practice session. It was worth the 3 day fun-filled Chela-fest.
Player contact in Madrid was impossible, as there was a net from the ceiling to the floor protecting the public from the balls and the players from the public. Mariano was on court along with Agassi, Ferrero and Tommy Haas. Millions of noisy kids were everywhere.
Berta told me I had to get Mariano's attention and ask him to come out. She told me how she got PimPim to come out for a signing session, and how to get round the Security Guards.
Of course I was too scared to do this. THEN she said - please! - I need him to sign this!!! - I then found out that Berta was at the Bastad 2004 Final! - and had Champion Pictures that NEEDED signing.
I asked her if she would call him.. (she is taller than me!) she said, NO, sorry, he knows YOU, YOU have to do it..... (no pressure!!!) 20,000 Agassi fans around me at the time, + 30,000 Ferrerro fans, and all the Haas fans too - yeah no problem, I can call Mariano off the court.... easy!
Note to self..... BELIEVE WHAT YOUR FRIENDS KEEP TELLING YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mission accomplished. 30,000 happy kids also had an autograph session by a really nice player from Argentina. The Security Guards also had a quick "Who's Who" lesson.... but a little note to the Security Guard..... Next time you ask "Who is that..." Make sure he is not still standing behind you listening to the conversation with his trademark smile.... teasing you behind your back.... he does this!.
Mariano - Thank you for coming out to us.