intimiste: 2010 us open

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

2010 us open: lost opportunities

can you see gulbis' racquet on the ground? the toss happened too quickly. i missed it.

i witnessed one upset today, up-close and personal, from the sun-seared front row of court 13. ernests gulbis lost in straight sets to luke perry's continental twin, frenchman jeremy chardy, in straight sets.

but the theme for the rest of the day seemed to be about missed chances--players like troicki, groth and fognini nudged bigger-named, better players (djokovic, sharapova, verdasco respectively) toward upsets, but couldn't capitalize on opportunities, earned or gifted.

it was certainly true for me, on the sidelines. my camera died, right around 2 in the afternoon, as i was taking pictures--from an obscenely close vantage point, just to make it even more cruel--of tommy robredo. i don't know what happened. did the camera overheat? did it short out? is tommy robredo so handsome that he stunned my camera into powerlessness?

all i know is i couldn't take a single photo the rest of the afternoon and evening. it really took the shine off the event for me. i enjoyed some of the play, but i couldn't helping thinking of the shots, expressions, moments i could have tried to catch. it was really so very disappointing.

there's always next year. heck, there's maybe even a next week, if i can figure out what the problem is.

and, on the bright side, i'm happy with the shots caught in the early part of the day. if these are the last photos i take with my canon rebel, well, then we went out, really swinging.

hope you like them, too.

ernests gulbis

ernests gulbis, mid-tiff, with the chair umpire....

ernests gulbis

jeremy chardy

these 3 of gulbis might be my favorites:

and these two of tommy robredo are going to make some ladies in my family very happy. i like them a lot too. (the black "hooded" areas show that the camera was just about crapping out...)

Saturday, August 28, 2010

the three amigos (i.e. when henry visited the us open)

as if watching a practice round between roger federer and gael monfils --gratis--on a spectacular, sunny friday afternoon wasn't enough...
theirry henry, now a "new yorker" via the red bulls, surprised his 2 friends--and a few hundred fans--with a courtside visit.

c'est super!