The next best thing to Grand Slam tennis is Masters Series tennis. I was lucky enough to attend the BNP Paribas Open yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. I'm not exactly sure what a tennis garden is, but I like the sound of those words together, and the complex is pretty fantastic. Seconds after stepping foot on the grounds, my friend V and I noticed a crowd gathered by one of the practice courts. When we got closer, we saw that it was none other than... Rafa! Vamos!
I've seen Nadal play live before, but never got the opportunity to watch him hit from a few feet away. What struck me most was the unique sound of the ball coming off his racket. Controlled violence. I have to say, it was a real thrill to watch him even during a casual practice.
While we were waiting to get into the stands to watch Jelena Jankovic and Shahar Peer in action, we turned around to see that The Mighty Roger Federer himself had stepped foot onto the practice court next to Nadal. However, the side-by-side practice sessions only lasted for a few minutes, as Rafael wrapped up fairly quickly after Fed's appearance. But I caught Roger in a relaxed moment with his hitting partner, a mere hour or so before his night match. Accessibility to practice courts is part of what makes a tennis event special, and the tennis garden has it in spades.
Bored by the Jankovic-Peer match, which was one-sided in favor of the Serb and extremely lacking in energy, we took our seats in the stadium, which happens to be the second largest tennis stadium in the world next to Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows. We saw some of Andy Roddick's routine win over a young Dutchman, and watched a set of Nadal's doubles match, before hunkering down for James Blake vs. Nicholas Almagro on one of the outer courts. Blake looked sluggish and a bit hobbled most of the match, but fought hard. Almagro, clearly the cleaner hitter (and surprisingly, the bigger server) of the two on this night, lost his temper a few times over some horrendous line calls. To be fair, the umpire was at least consistently bad, so the calls probably evened out at the end. After losing the first set and toughing out the second, Blake looked to be playing for a third set tiebreaker. But Almagro managed to break him and hold on for the victory. While it's always difficult to play against someone on their home turf, Almagro's demeanor and behavior certainly didn't win him any fans last night. Hopefully, J-Blake can get himself back to 100% and compete with the big guys again.
When we returned to the stadium for Federer-Baghdatis after Blake's match ended, we had absolutely no idea we were going to witness the most shocking upset of the year so far. Within minutes after sitting down at the top of the octogonal stadium, Fed held serve to take a 6-5 lead in the first and broke Bags to take the set. Late in the second, The Maestro had two break chances against the Cypriot to take yet another 6-5 lead, but Marcos fought off both break points and held serve. That's when the shocker really started. Everyone in the stadium assumed Roger would hold serve and force a tiebreaker, but he played a loose game, sprayed a couple of shots, and without much warning (or energy from the crowd), Baghdatis broke him to win the set 7-5. Fed went up an early break in the decisive third set, but Bags refused to go away and broke to get back on serve. That's when I reminded V that I had half-jokingly said late in the second set that Marcos Baghdatis would fight his way back from the brink and win this match. But I was still shocked when Cyprus' favorite son actually pulled it off by taking the third set tiebreak. Fed was stunned. The crowd was stunned. V and I jumped up and down and chanted Marcos' name. Interviewed on court after the match, Baghdatis said that he had lost to Federer in each of their previous six meetings, but seven was his lucky number. Awesome to see him back on the big stage with his big game and his big personality. He made our night. I still don't have a clue what a tennis garden is, but I know I like it.
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