Gildavid Moments

     David and I have observed some “traditions” that we like to keep simply because it feels so Gildavid. For example, we have been going the the same restaurant for our wedding anniversary because it was the restaurant we dined at after our wedding. Another would be that we always clean the house and change the bedsheets before we go on a trip so can come home to a clean house with fresh bedsheets.

     Going to the Cincinnati Tennis Tournament is becoming one of these traditions. Early this week, we went to Cincinnati to watch the games. We always look forward to this trip and, this year, we had a wonderful time indeed.

     We were not able to see Roger Federrer (#1) and Rafael Nadal (#2) play but I got a chance to see them at practice (David was glued at the courts watching the games while I looked around to see what was happening in other parts of the grounds).

     It was exciting to see Federrer arrive with two marshalls (he was besieged by fans wanting his picture and autograph). He was about 2 feet away from me, I was able to take a close-up picture. This world’s number 1 (as of this writing) has so much class, I cannot help but admire him.

     I admire Nadal too, he is getting better and better each year and has managed to stay humble and likable. When I saw him, he was practicing with another good player from the “Spanish Armada”, Carlos Moya.

     I saw Marat Safin practicing with Fernando Gonzalez from Chile and got a good picture of both of them relaxing after practice.

     We enjoyed watching James Blake and Sam Querrey (they lost) play a doubles match against two young players, Todd Widom and Michael Yani.   Another game I saw in passing was that of the number 1 ranked doubles team of the Brian Brothers. I saw Novak Djokovic play a thrilling first set against Simone Bolleli.

     The best game we saw was probably between Igor Andreev and Radek Stepanek. It was excellent tennis played a little over 3 hours.

     It was nice to see John Isner playing again (he lost to Andreev).  The first time we saw him play was at the Racquet Club in Ohio when he was still a college player. I am happy that he made it as a professional tennis player.

     I enjoyed looking around for freebies (below), and got a few to bring home to David’s amusement. I also brought home this year’s official Cincinnati cup (shown below with cups from the last two years).

     We took a “food break” and sat at one of the big tents where a band was playing songs from the Beatles (shown below). It was really neat.

     I am so glad that David got me into tennis. I never thought I would be playing a sport for the first time at 45 years old. I am grateful that we are blessed with the chance to go to tournaments and watch these amazing players and learn from them.

     For more pictures, click here: http://mgcr168.bravejournal.com/