nt to spend a ton of money to see one match and hoped there would be some matches on the outer courts. Perhaps juniors or seniors? Everything turned out great. It was a breeze to get there. The 7 train dropped me off right at the grounds. I got a day pass ticket - for $75. There were junior matches going on and the first match was with Donald Young. This kid has been touted as an up and comer for a few years I have really wanted to see him play. He has tried repeatedly to win matches on the pro tour with no success. As I approached the court, I stopped to reorganize my stuff and found myself standing next to Nick Bolletteri and Donald Young's couch. American Express had a big presence at the open and gave away a radio if you could present a card. I picked up the radio and from where I was sitting watching the junior match I could see the giant screen showing the Henin-Hardenne vs Jankovic semi-final. The radio worked great. Jankovic looked to be winning the match, convincingly, when she suddenly imploded emotionally. It was so dramatic and appeared that she couldn't handle winning. Jankovic went from winning the first set and being up in the second to losing the second set and the third at love. Donald Young also won his match. It wasn't easy though. Donald is a scrawny little guy. He's already 17 and will hopefully have a growth spurt to have any chance of a pro tour career. I also watched to #1 girl take out her opponent in 3. She was more impressive than Donald. She was from Russia (what a surprise) and had an impossibly long name. After watching these matches I walked around the grounds and found the practice courts. Andy Roddick and Jimmy Conners were out there. Boy was it fun to see those guys. If I came during the first week I'd probably spend a lot of time hanging out there - you really see the players in a relaxed atmosphere with their coaches and hitting partners. After that I walked around some more and headed to the gift shop. I wanted to get Nancy and Yumi t-shirts for helping me out taking care of Ro and my car. A simple tank top was $50. I just couldn't do it. I picked up some caps, visors and rubber duckies. Checking the time it seemed like time to head back to the hotel. On the way out American Express was handing out subway metro cards - score!!Eve and I took the crosstown bus and headed down 5th ave to the rehearsal dinner. It was on the top floor of a building overlooking the 59th street bridge. We watched a big orange moon rise from our table. It was amazing to see relatives I haven't seen in about 12 years. As I entered the room I ran into someone I play tennis with - Sue Abrams. We looked at each other and I said 'What are you doing here" Sue said she was a cousin of Jodies and responded that I was a cousin of Jodies!! Really wild. I recognized her mother and we had a lot of fun catching up. Eve and I ended up sitting with Sue and her family. It turned out that our family had little representation since we were all from the west coast. The food and atmosphere were terrific and I was little sad that I don't know my family better.
Happy couple - Lauren and Dana.
Jody and Eve.
On the way out, all the out of town guests got a bag of goodies. This bag had biscotti, cookies, water and lots of chocolate. Eve and I ate from these bags everyday and I still had chocolate when I left New York.
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