Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The US Open Men's Semi Finals



My husband and I had an unexpected and very exciting treat this past Saturday.  We were invited to attend the U.S. Open men's singles semi final matches at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York. Arthur Ashe Stadium, a part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, is located within Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, and is the main tennis stadium of the US Open. It is the largest "tennis only" venue in the world!



This is the play board that shows the results of all the matches played before this date and the ranks of the players. Serbia's Novak Dojokovic played Switzerland's Roger Federer, and Spain's Rafael Nadal played Scotland's Andy Murray.


I took the photo above and below from the lodge section of Arthur Ashe stadium, where our seats were located, you can see a view of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and a portion of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park which was once the site of the 1939 New York World's Fair and 1964 World's Fair. The photo below is one of the 32 courts in the facility, where a wheelchair athletes match was being played.

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It was 11:30 AM as we entered the stadium and the stands were just beginning to fill up.


The sky became overcast and a half hour rain shower delayed the beginning of the matches. I enjoyed watching the suction/fan cars that came out to clear the court of water.



Very soon the sky was bright blue again, and the ubiquitous sports blimp was in the air over the stadium to broadcast a panorama view on TV.



At the beginning of the first match the stands were packed with a capacity crowd.



A special recognition to the anniversary of 9-11-01 was on the court.



Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Bradley Cooper, Billie Jean King, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Andy Samberg, Paul Simon, Sandy Koufax , Stanley Tucci and Jeremy Piven are among the many stars watching the men's singles final and the camera placed their images on the scoreboards during set breaks.



Novak Dojokovic



Roger Federer

Roger was a five time former winner of the US Open.



The four hours quality of play was intense, but Roger Federer was defeated in five sets in his quest for another US Open title with a 7-6(9), 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 5-7 defeat against Novak Djokovic in the semi-final.

After a brief interlude the second set of men's singles took the court.



Rafael Nadal



Andy Murray

(Andy had changed his shorts from black to white towards the last set)


It was nice to see these two players grace and sportsmanship. Their matches were particularly exciting to watch.




Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to set up a final with Novak Djokovic this past Monday.


I loved this scene above on the scoreboard as the blimp showed us the sun go down behind the buildings in Manhattan in a blaze of color.



We were still in the stadium well into the night and saw the harvest moon rise in the sky. The two semi final matches lasted many hours, and in my opinion it requires fortitude from the fans in the stands to sit such a long time. I had to take a few walks to stretch my legs during the matches. The excitement of play on this level is mesmerizing, however, and I marveled over the stamina of the players and their strength and skill to be able to volley a tennis ball with a velocity as much as 135 miles per hour for so many hours!



The outside tennis plaza was still abuzz with activity, as the women's semi final matches followed the men's semi fanls, and that crowd was waiting to enter Arthur Ashe Stadium.



Novak Djokovic was the ultimate winner of the 2011 Men's Single competition on Monday, September12, 2011. Djokovic battled back problems during the finals, but used his superior return game, defense and speed to play with confidence to defeat the 10-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1, to win his first career US Open crown.
It was very exciting to be part of the action and see history being made! I'm almost encouraged to take up tennis...that is if I had younger and better knees that could take all that stress. I think I am destined to limit my activity to power walking in the park everyday.  

Do you play a sport? What is your favorite way to keep physically fit?


I'm adding this post to the "Outdoor Wednesday" event on Susan's blog A Southern Daydreamer, and Watery Wednesday and Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday -- the letter is "V" and I'd say it was very exciting to see the men's semi final US Open match!


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51 comments:

Maria M. Boyer said...

Oh, Pat. I love tennis! And I double-love the U.S. Open. What a treat, esp. to see the men's semis. Even better than the final, I always thought, as you could see all four of them! And all the celebs. What fun! So happy you enjoyed it. You are lucky to live so close!!

Lynn said...

Sounds like you had an amazing day Pat! Fun pics:@)

dianasfaria.com said...

Hi Pat! Every year I say I'm going to the Open & never do-so thanks for sharing your day with us.
I like to play tennis but I definitely am not very good. It is great exercise & believe it or not it's not too hard on the knees. It's a great sport for getting in shape since you move so many different muscles in all sorts of directions.

Kris said...

Oh my word. How lucky are you!!! What fun!!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

How fun Pat. I would have love to have been there. My husband is a Federer fan and I like Nadal. Unfortunately neither one won. And what makes it worse, our stupid local channel played only an hour of the final on Monday and then switched to Dr. Oz and Judge Judy. The nerve of them. I think I need to move to a more sophisticated part of the world, maybe up there with you. On second thought, too much traffic in the city. Sigh.
Sam

black eyed susans kitchen said...

Pat, These pictures are just unbelievable! You did an amazing job covering a day at the Open!

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

I know, after we made plans to go to NY in June, I told my husband we should have waited until Sept to watch the US Open! Hopefully I can do that someday.

I love to play tennis and golf. Tennis more. I haven't played since my rotator cuff surgery 9 months ago. I hope to try to play soon.

Ciao Chow Linda said...

What fun Pat. How lucky to be invited to the open. I've been there once and saw the Williams sisters play each other. Love the collage photos of the players. I used to be a tennis player, but the knees aren't happy about it now. Somehow or other, skiing doesn't bother me though.

nanny said...

Your pictures are great. I love the one of the stadium just beginning to fill up!
I saw that beautiful moon last night as we were driving home from grandson's football game. It was so "big".
You just have so much fun in NY and get to see the most awesome events. I'm glad we have you to share them with us!

Buttercup said...

Love your pictures! Next best to being there. Many years ago I played tennis. I'm not too fast and years of lessons didn't really develop a good serve, so it wasn't too hard to "retire" from tennis. I enjoy swimming and I love to walk.

GailO said...

I have been procrastinating going out for a walk by reading blogs...I think I am headed out now:) What a wonderful opportunity Pat... It looks like it was a great time!

Grandmother Mary said...

Your photos give a better sense than TV of how huge the stands are. Thanks for recording your extra-special trip to the Opens. What a great opportunity!

podso said...

Both of these recent posts are wonderful! That's so neat you got to go to the mens semi finals! And thanks for the 9/11 pictures. I hope someday we can visit NYC again. We celebrated our 15th anniversary in a restaurant atop the World Trade Center.

Donnie said...

You did a great job on the photos. I enjoyed reading about it.

Sandy said...

Great post Pat and how lucky you were to see the US Open Final. Photos are just fantastic. I don't watch tennis much anymore but I use to when Connors and MacEnroe played. I'm a walker for my exercise and like my Wii too. That's the only place I can play tennis anymore and my Hubby still beats me.

Old Kitty said...

Awww Pat!!! You lucky woman!! How wonderful to see!! Weren't they just amazing matches?? I would never have thought Djokovic to get this far what with Nadal and Federer but wow - he really wanted this!! Amazing result and well deserved!

Loved your pics - I got a sense of just how HUGE the stadium is! Huge!!!

I am the least sporty person ever but I do like watching tennis and athletics and some football (soccer) and can't wait for the Olympics to start!

Take care
x

My name is Riet said...

Hi Pat. How lucky you was to be invited to the US open. I love your pictures . You must have had a wonderful day.
Riet

Jenny said...

How very, very cool Miss Pat! You get to do the neatest things!

This looks like a really spectacular event!

Your husband really landed himself a prize in you!

Thanks for linking!

A+

Carol said...

The place is grand, I've never been, at least not since 1964 for the World's Fair :) What exciting matches you got to see! Such an amazing time.

Judy said...

Lucky you! I would have loved to watch that match live. Great photos...as always.

I quite enjoy playing tennis...on a totally different level than the tennis you witnessed!

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

hi pat...what an exciting event to be able to go to....

loved seeing the Full Harvest Moon from your eyes...

happy to see you at farmhouse kitchen and happy to visit today, my friend

kary and teddy
xx

Yvette said...

Such an exhilerating post, Pat. I wish I had the stamina and the budget. But I attend vicariously through your wonderful posts.

Thanks again for allowing me to travel without leaving home. :)

I'm not such a big tennis fan, but I do enjoy the odd match here and there. Loved your accounting of it though.

My exercise amounts to walking my dog, more especially when the weather cools off a bit. Hey, it's better than nothing. :)

Linda said...

What a great opportunity you had and such a beautiful stadium! It looked like a lot of fun!

Sheila said...

Your pictures and commentary made me feel like i was right there in the stadium in the row in front of you. We do follow tennis and enjoyed these matches at home. I did take tennis lessons several times and played doubles in my 20's but was never very good. I curled for 8 years and loved that sport. I played third and loved it. These days I love to go for walks when i can. Thanks for another great photo album !

Vagabonde said...

It must have been an exciting event – your pictures are wonderful.

Vittle me this... said...

Ah! So jealous! I didn't get to make it over there this year!

ellen b. said...

What a great treat! You really got some great shots!!

The Gathering Place said...

What a fun place to be! Your pictures made me feel like I was there, too!

Tanna said...

What a treat! I used to run. And, sometimes I'm a golfer. A lot of the times, I am a couch potato! LOL! blessings ~ tanna

Lynn said...

My hubby go to go to that on year. He has watched it all on the telly this year. I'll show him your fantastic photos when he gets home...FROM playing tennis! No lie!

Pamela Gordon said...

Hi Pat, It's nice to meet you. Thanks for your kind comment on my post and for following me. I appreciate it. I enjoyed your post about the tennis match and esepcially the one about 9/11. Your photos of the tennis match are very good and bring the stadium to life. I am also going to follow your blog. Have a wonderful day! Blessings, Pamela

Saun said...

Wow, sounds like you had a great time. Love the moon and flag shot.

camp and cottage living said...

Pat
Thanks for taking me somewhere I'll never be visiting in this lifetime.
My favorite photo was the flag in the moonlight. Great photos-all!

Anonymous said...

What a lucky girl you were to be there watching live and in person! I love the entire event.

Ebie said...

It is always a pleasure visiting your blog, Pat. Nice shots of the stadium. Not to mention all those celebrities watching.

RNSANE said...

How exciting all this is! My oldest son, Shawn, for the last 15 or so years, has always worked for the pro tennis tournaments in the Bay area. He does a lot of driving for the pro players, meeting and greeting,etc, both for the games played at Stanford and he's gone to help in LA a couple of times. He's done it so long now that he knows some of the pros ( especially the girls ) by name!

He's asks me every year but I still haven't made it to any of the games yet!

Jim said...

A great day out.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Tracy said...

Oh, this was great fun to see, Pat! I LOVE tennis! I don't play it very well at all...LOL... but I've been a follow of the sport since my teens. Yoga is my main keep-fit. I was so sorry that Rafael Nadal lost the other day, though Dojokovic played a super game. I'm just a BIG Rafa fan, what can I say?! ;o) tee-hee... There is not much of tennis scene at all here in Norway, so I just follow the big international matches--thankfully there's a lot of online coverage so I don't miss much. So great you were able to see these greats live! Happy Day ((HUGS))

LindyLouMac said...

Wow that was so exciting to be able to attend, the men's semi finals and see such great players live. I have been to Wimbledon but it seems such a small event in comparison.

Catherine said...

That was the best semi-final I have ever seen. Loved it.

Lacey R said...

Hubs and I play tennis for fun, although we can be quite competitive (hehe), we like following the matches too - you were lucky you were able to attend!

I found out on the weekend that my parents are into watching tennis now too, which was a surprise for me. They were never into tennis when I was growing up!

Vee said...

Tennis actually provided me with a lot of exercise...chasing the ball. I wasn't so great at hitting it. Wow. What an opportunity and your pictures really give us a sense of time passing and the intensity of the game. Love the mosaics with each of the opponents. I like watching tennis from the comfort of my easy chair. I'd have been down for the count in the stadium.

diane b said...

A great post. I love tennis and I play it every week when my wonkey knee lets me. You were so lucky to be there in person, although I guess it took a lot of stamina to sit there for so long. The arena is beautifully situated too. Did you hear that our Aussie girl, Sam Stosur, won the women's final. We as a nation are over the moon. It is so long since we have had a tennis champion. Yet back in the 50's and 60's we were often winning.

Gracie said...

My husband isn't that excited about a visit to the Big Apple, but.... if I promise him we could watch some tennis and/or basket and/or baseball games, maybe....

Jeanne said...

Good morning Pat, My daughter Christina plays tennis and she would be so envious of your day at the U.S. Open. She plays on a team from the country club in Jax. Florida. Your post is outstanding and I am going to call her to check out your post. the photos are so good. You could be part of the Press. HA!

Have a fun day.
Hugs, Jeanne

Cathy said...

What a wonderful experience to attend such an exciting tennis event. Your photos are fabulous, Pat. I almost felt like I was there too. The stadium is so impressive (and huge!)

To the Toy Box and Beyond said...

great photos Thanks for sharing

Judie said...

Pat, your photos are terrific! You are so lucky to have been there. Rod and I would have loved it!

Pondside said...

What a treat that must have been, Pat! We watched on TV. Your photos are great!

Lisa H. said...

What fantastic photos and what an exciting thing to experience. Thank you for sharing.

Anonymous said...

WOW..so envious!..it must have been unbelievable to watch live!!....I'm a huge tennis fan and have been playing since I was 6yo...it's such a great sport and I've made many friends through my little club..
loved your post and I hadn't seen the suction cars before..funny! Gx