Post by ilhame on Feb 28, 2006 17:19:45 GMT -5
On 10 February I went to the DC tie between the Netherlands and Russia. I bought my ticket like ten weeks earlier because I was so excited to hear Marat would come into my direction again. Unfortunately he wasn't feeling better yet and I had to settle with the other guys. This of course still wasn't so bad.
I got to the stadium at 11.45 a.m. I got stuck in traffic a bit and was just in time for the national anthems. All players were on court and a dutch singer, Karin Bloemen, sang both anthems. It was cool to see her singing in russian. IMO that's better then just playing a cd and risking it being the wrong national anthem.
After the national anthem all players left the court again and came back just after noon. I left too cause I had some phone calls to make. In the hall I saw Volkov with some russian people. It was fun to see a group of russians among the 8,000 spectators.
I had a good seat behind the baseline, but not good enough to take pics.
Maybe it's just the DC atmosphere that makes it difficult to make photos...I love tennis, but I watch it in silence so I was the odd one out that day. ;D
First match was between Sluiter and Tursunov. I like Remon cause he's my fave dutchman, but his game is so freaking ugly. I like tennis not just for the excitement, but also for the technique and his just looks awful. His shots can be effective, but not that beautiful. The match was pretty equal with some nice rallies and was really decided by a point here or there. It took like 3.5 hours for Dimitri to win. It's interesting to see how DC crowds can have an effect on players. During some games Dimitri just had so much trouble winning his service games. Raemon had his chances, but just didn't take them. The dutch were gutted after those 3.5 hours, but I wasn't! All in all the tennis they played wasn't that bad.
It was great seeing Shamil sitting there so quietly and pulling his pants up after every break. He's so much more different then Bogstra who tries to pump up his players. Shamil was a must see for me in my life so now I can die in peace. ;D Misha and Igor were there cheering for Dimitri. Igor looked sooo cute! I spotted Glebov as well and had no clue who the older men in the russian camp are.
After a little break Nikolay played Melle van Gemerden. When I took my seat I spotted Zhenya wearing jeans and a black sweater! He looked like he was amusing himself with Volkov. Too bad I only saw him during that first set...Igor wasn't there at all during the second match.
Melle is a player I had never seen before. He was focused and eager and got off to a good start. He's a powerful player and not that bad to watch. Kolya needed some time to get into the match, but as expected afer 2.5 hours the russians were leading 2-0. I knew Melle wouldn't be able to keep the momentum. Again I enjoyed the victory in silence.
All in all DC tennis was fun, but it did give me a headache and a speeding ticket. When you're there the noise is normal, but when I got home my head was about to explode. That morning when I just passed the Hague I got my very first speeding ticket. I'm 31 euros poorer now, but al was worth it.
Rotterdam 2006 will follow in the coming days!
I got to the stadium at 11.45 a.m. I got stuck in traffic a bit and was just in time for the national anthems. All players were on court and a dutch singer, Karin Bloemen, sang both anthems. It was cool to see her singing in russian. IMO that's better then just playing a cd and risking it being the wrong national anthem.
After the national anthem all players left the court again and came back just after noon. I left too cause I had some phone calls to make. In the hall I saw Volkov with some russian people. It was fun to see a group of russians among the 8,000 spectators.
I had a good seat behind the baseline, but not good enough to take pics.
Maybe it's just the DC atmosphere that makes it difficult to make photos...I love tennis, but I watch it in silence so I was the odd one out that day. ;DFirst match was between Sluiter and Tursunov. I like Remon cause he's my fave dutchman, but his game is so freaking ugly. I like tennis not just for the excitement, but also for the technique and his just looks awful. His shots can be effective, but not that beautiful. The match was pretty equal with some nice rallies and was really decided by a point here or there. It took like 3.5 hours for Dimitri to win. It's interesting to see how DC crowds can have an effect on players. During some games Dimitri just had so much trouble winning his service games. Raemon had his chances, but just didn't take them. The dutch were gutted after those 3.5 hours, but I wasn't! All in all the tennis they played wasn't that bad.
It was great seeing Shamil sitting there so quietly and pulling his pants up after every break. He's so much more different then Bogstra who tries to pump up his players. Shamil was a must see for me in my life so now I can die in peace. ;D Misha and Igor were there cheering for Dimitri. Igor looked sooo cute! I spotted Glebov as well and had no clue who the older men in the russian camp are.
After a little break Nikolay played Melle van Gemerden. When I took my seat I spotted Zhenya wearing jeans and a black sweater! He looked like he was amusing himself with Volkov. Too bad I only saw him during that first set...Igor wasn't there at all during the second match.
Melle is a player I had never seen before. He was focused and eager and got off to a good start. He's a powerful player and not that bad to watch. Kolya needed some time to get into the match, but as expected afer 2.5 hours the russians were leading 2-0. I knew Melle wouldn't be able to keep the momentum. Again I enjoyed the victory in silence.
All in all DC tennis was fun, but it did give me a headache and a speeding ticket. When you're there the noise is normal, but when I got home my head was about to explode. That morning when I just passed the Hague I got my very first speeding ticket. I'm 31 euros poorer now, but al was worth it.
Rotterdam 2006 will follow in the coming days!
