Dream Come True

My beautiful people!

It has been quite a while, hasn't it? Well, a lot has happened but the most compelling is what I'd like to share with you today - One of my dreams became a reality not too long ago!

Now for many of you who know me, either through Facebook, personally or otherwise, you know that Tennis is an integral part of my life. I can't boast that I am the best non-professional tennis player you'll ever meet because I'm not. It's pathetic, really, that my serve (the first thing you're supposed to learn) quite simply, SUCKS! It's surprising to a lot of people, some of which have actually voiced their astonishment, that my game is not up to par to my commentating. But that will be remedied...soon. When I have time.

But I digress.

One of my biggest dreams has always been to go to all the Grand Slams before I turn 25. Well the 25 thing might be erased but since I'm still a ways from that age, it stays. There are 4 slams in a year (if you're really interested in getting more info on that, click here) and I attended one of them this year - The U.S Open in Flushing Meadows, NY! I believe I had told you before how I came about the FREE tickets to the games on September 10, 2011 but in summary, I met a man at an Accounting Conference I was invited to speak at and somehow the subject of Tennis came up (stick with me for 10 minutes and tennis will come up!) and he casually asked me if I would like to go to the US Open, I said yes then shocker! He says "I will get you 2 tickets to this year's U.S Open". I believe I squeaked! Most unprofessional! But in this situation, I excused my behavior - I get to see Roger, if I'm lucky! That's enough to get a squeal out of me (lol).

And so it was...I got those tickets and I got to see more games than I had thought - I had Irene to thank for that; Hurricane Irene brought a lot of residual rain with her so a lot of matches were postponed so instead of watching the women's finals and the men's semi-finals, I got to see the men's and women's semi-finals! And most importantly, I got to see Roger Federer LIVE! Another DCT!

With this knowledge, I oxi-cleaned my one-year old white and red RF face cap, dug up my RF t-shirt and bought a round trip bus ticket to New York! Oyin (my sister) was kind enough to tag along because I have zero knowledge about New York and quite frankly don't care to know. So fast forwarding to the D-day, I woke up at like 7am! I couldn't sleep! I was actually going to see the courts that I've been watching on TV for 5 years! I was revved! I decked myself in all my RF paraphernalia  and Oyin drove me to Arthur Ashe.
We got lost quite a bit and it was raining and there were a lot of crazy people jaywalking but then it's NYC!

This greeted me as I walked in!

For some reason, the rain and general nastiness of the weather didn't seem to dim my excitement! I was mildly wet and grinning from ear to ear when I walked into the grounds! I quickly found my seat - I was hungry but dang! the food was jah pricey! Talk about inflation! So, out of sheer principle, I refused to purchase anything to eat (yeah, thrifty..wtv)

Patiently waiting for my Fed.

Spectacular View at Arthur Ashe Stadium!

It was Federer/Djokovic first at 12pm followed by Nadal/Murray then S.Williams/Wozniacki on Arthur Ashe and Stosur/Kerber on Granstand.

Without going into too much detail, my Roger lost in 5 sets to Djokovic after squandering a 5-3, 40-15 lead in the 5th set. I'm still mad about that. But, I'm just glad I got to see the FedExpress in action. Man, the man can move! Besides the slew of unforced errors and occasional passive play, the man is fluid! He hardly sweats and he keeps his composure so well that you wonder if he's aware he's losing! While Djokovic looked to be sweating bullets and grunting after every point, Roger was the epitome of silence and calm. It was beautiful.

Nadal won his match against Murray in 4 sets and I think that's when I realized that Nadal wasn't as invisible as he used to be - he looked tired and afraid. Not a good look. In my boredom with the Nadal match, I left Arthur Ashe and headed for Granstand to watch the Australian, Stostur take on the 96th seed German, Kerber, who silently worked her way through the rounds to the semis. Then I got bored again. So I just walked around the extensive grounds and took in as much as I could.

Slight Side-note:


Oh! I should inject this here - for those of you who'd love to experience this, it's important to note that American Express holders are treated like Kings out there! Free radio earphones (see above) to hear the commentaries, complimentary draw-sheets, charging systems for phones and electronics (I needed this more times that I care to count!), gift cards, and so much more! I felt like a rock star!

I really should stop before your eyes glaze over, but September 10, 2011 has definitely gone down in history as one of the best days of my life! I had the day to myself to explore a sport and a community that I adore. I saw Dylan Walsh from Nip/Tuck and Serena Williams' dad! They both walked right by me. I got to watch the greatest tennis player in the galaxy and the others who are striving to accomplish a margin of what he has. It made my year! I'm hooked! I'm definitely going next year and probably Rolland Garros (we'll see).

Anyway, to recap and conclude, it was a Djokovic/Nadal final where Djokovic almost humiliated Nadal but won anyway, Serena taught #1 seed Wozniacki a thing or two about how to play tennis then went on to lose to Sam Stosur. In her defense, she should not have played the day after her SF match, but that doesn't give her leave to insult the umpire the way she did in 2009 with the linesman. Bad rep, Serena, bad rep!

Until Next year, US. Open, until next year!

PS - Shout out to Oyinlomo Abiola, my honey, for driving me to and from the Open and Chyna B for letting us stay at her fabulous apartment in Brooklyn!! Was Mad Fun!!!