Rain hit WTA
Alrite now Everyone!!!! Stand in a line!!!!, chalo shabash achay bachay…. Cmon cmon. Ok ab tell kis nay nazar lagayee haan??? Kaun kaun bolo bolo durtay nae won’t eat ya people. I mean hudh hogayee it hardly rains in Dubai and not only it had to rain on the day I bought ticket for but also had to rain so badly kay it washed out the whole day ya whole day zilch no play hardly 13 minutes. Even the organizers weren’t prepared for it and were taken by surprise; they hardly had few wipers and few towels. But the kids (ball boys and girls and cleaning staff) mostly on their own worked endlessly, with patience and tried hard for the games to start, though very unfortunate but those kids had fun. They would wait for rain to stop then enter the court with a loud applause from the spectators. Start using wipers to soak and drain water. After that they would lineup towels on court and start running and jumping on those so that towels soak up any wetness from the surface. In between laughing, playing jokes at each other and whenever shown on big screen they would all go screaming and waving. But the most unfortunate that happened almost all day on Thursday as soon as they would be done with drying, rain would start immediately and they would all go “awwwwwww”. Anyhow so after watching first afternoon session completely washed out, I left for Sharjah to friend’s apartment. We had plans to check out a BM too, though it was a good piece but right now I want to wait for a much better option. Anyways called the club again in evening to find out the progress and they looked all set to start the proceedings and I just decided to go without even giving a second thought to the weather conditions and there you go after waiting for another two hours day was called off with quarters now being planed to be played on semis day. Good management walas though allowed us to come and watch quarters on semis day on our quarter finals day’s tickets.
On Friday weather was lot clearer and there was sun, I called up the courts and the guy informs me that matches will start at 12 noon but sigh that was very close to Friday prayers time. I could have gone there at 12 and left for prayers in middle but I had to drive my friends to mosque so stayed back and finally managed to reach the court around 2. That time the semi between Sharapova and Hingis was going on and I joined it in the start of second set in a packed packed court. Took place on the stairs very close to the court, perfect spot. Since I have attended couple of ODIs in National Stadium in Karachi in similar condition, my bum is used to cemented surfaces :P. Sharapova rocked in that match though we(her supporters) were comprehensively outnumbered by Hingis fans. Though me and couple of kids next to me were quite audible ;) haha am sure I must have been heard on TV. Anyways after that match all quarters were over, except Sania Mirza’s ka doubles. But the court was so packed so packed that they had to open the adjacent court but it was no fun so came out. Now out of ticket and hardly watched any tennis I desperately wanted to watch Semis. So I just stood in line hoping for a miracle ticket. Then a lady approaches and offers to sell semis ticket “Thank you Mam”. I happily accepted the offer and bought the ticket. First up it was Justine Henin vs. Kuznetsova, in which Henin powered her way to 6-2,7-5 win. Man this lady has got some powerful and most accurate returns. Plus her reach is incredible. You would say “nah she is not gonna get it” and boom not only she gets there her return is so impressive that it leaves the opponent in disbelief. But her backhand is the most elegant, single handed and hit with force and accuracy. Delight to watch. Oh forgot to mention it did rain early in first set and it threatened to ruin the entire evening but Thank God play resumed after 3 hours. And I had to watch it in wet shirt, no cover, cold wind and shivering(sun was out when I left home so didn’t bother for any jacket and it was a mistake, lesson learnt). But I had to watch it, ab itna paisa spent kiya that u had to naa plus all for the love of the game :P. Moreover I had allergy and was having sneeze attacks after regular periods so it wasn’t easy at all and this perseverance (some would call stupidity) ended me on bed the next day :P. oh haan since I strategically seated myself where it would have been easier for me to rush for autograph I was able to get one from Henin yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, must have been looked like a Buddha desperado stretching full for an autograph and avoiding fall. But yes I have it :P and now I know where your best chances are :P to get one.
The other semi between Sharapova and Davenport started immediately and though Sharapova started badly(was all over the place) it was Davenport whose game faltered with back to back double faults and it allowed Sharapova to come back and win the second set 6-1 and that was it. It was 22:45 and if I wanted to avoid spending night in open chilly conditions I had to rush to the bus station and grab the last bus to Al-Ain. It is sad though because I missed Sharapova‘s win and left the match in middle but I guess I was fortunate enough to witness that much, remember I didn’t have the semis ticket. Although I have friends in Dubai and Sharjah but I should seriously dig out couple of places which are affordable and in ok condition for a night stand, cant just go and stay at people’s place every time around. Oh well so that my rain affected first ever WTA experience, next week its ATP and I am praying and praying hard that weather remains kick ass for tennis, Thank you All :P.
Picture links below:
Start from page 5 and proceed to page 4,3,2,1 that is the order :(.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acro
alternate link and this one works here ;)
http://www5.flickr.mud.yahoo.com/photos/acro
