OK, I am back. I watched Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Man alive, that was some awesome tennis!! Got to see almost everyone: Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Del Potro, Gulbis, Tsonga, Fish, Almagro, Haas, Wawrinka, Woz, Sharapova, Kirilenko, Errani, Kvitova. The only player I missed that I wanted to see was Murray.
Also did some major gawking at the hotel. Best was Jimmy Connors, who was in the lobby of the restaurant waiting for a table for breakfast. My friend chatted with him briefly. He was friendly and jovial, even though we were seated before he was. As we left to take his table, he said, "Enjoy the tennis!"
Saw lots of other player at the hotel. Gasquet was friendly to the kids who interrupted his breakfast to sign their huge tennis ball thingies, but he needs to avoid hunching over his food when he eats. Looks a little too caveman.
Benoit Pairre is a hunk of burning love. Gorgeous. Went back to the buffet bar many times. Man, that guy can eat!
Del Potro was working out on the eliptical in the gym, and then he had someone come and stretch him. He was nice to all the people who acknowledged him.
Alice Cornet is really, really pretty. She was in the elevator with her French friends, and she cleans up nicely and has great fashion sense. Shorter than I thought, maybe 5'6".
Watched ladies doubles (Petrova/Shrebotnik v. Zheng/Llangosteros-Vivas). Very fun match. I was surprised at the number of topspin lobs the ladies hit. And they worked, too. Poor Llangosteros-Vivas missed about five easy, easy, easy overheads into the net. Very shocking to see any pro who can't make makeable overheads.
Enjoyed the Bryon Bros v. Tipsarevic/Kubot. I really thought the Bryons would lose. Tipsarevic was on fire. That match proved once again that the players who can take the net will win.
Watched Kei Nishikori get smoked by Berloq. I was really surprised. Kei seemed to give up mentally. On match point down, he had an easy sitter close to the net. He was visibly confused about what to do, so he kind of bunted it to the open court. Berloq ran over and hit the easy winner. The whole match went that way, with Kei out of sorts and out of ideas. Very disappointing, that.
Overall, though . . . I was a little less happy with the tournament than I was in the past. All three days were crazy crowded, whereas in the past Monday and Tuesday were pretty quiet. This time, it was so crowded on the grounds that it reminded me of what it feels like to push through crowds on Fifth Avenue in NYC. I wonder if the problem is that they have increased the number of general admissions tickets or something?
The only place that wasn't a zoo was the main stadium. It makes me question whether I would ever buy a general admission ticket to fight through crowds like that.