us open rewind: labor day in the promenade

nadal's loss to juan martin del potro yesterday in the semifinals took the steam out of my plan for today (us open happy hour at my place). but still--i am here at home with the TV on, hoping del potro has a safin (circa 2000) kind of afternoon in flushing meadow. i won't be watching this final with the same intensity as i would a nadal vs. anyone match, but i can't resist the sounds of the open. i'm going to keep this broadcast on for as long as i can stand it (if fed locks up the first 2 sets easily, i head to the gym).

i have been able to get a very decent amount of tennis-watching in during this slam (a lot more than during this year's french and wimbledon)--and i did manage to make it out to queens for a little live action. here are some photos from my first day out there: day 7, sunday, september 6.

everything was aligned to ensure a perfect day: sunny and warm in the morning, with an occasional breeze (clouds joined us for the afternoon, no rain). nadal was to play in the stadium. ferrero, tsonga and del potro were scheduled, too. i was going to be with my cousins, who were just happy to be there. and i knew some friends would be attending that day, and we would meet at some point...

and so it was...

from what can't rightly be called "the cheap seats" (312 in the promenade),

the view is pretty good. i've seen many matches from the z seats before and still managed to have a great time.

when i go with my camera, i really don't see much of the actual match. too busy hoping for a particular shot. i've got an 18-270 mm tamron for my canon--it's a pretty big lens, certainly bigger than any i've taken to the open before--and i was really curious to see how it would compensate for my distance from the court. i was clicking away before i knew what was happening here with nadal... at a certain point, with his shirt pulled up, and his shorts rolled down, i actually felt a little dirty snapping photos...

but it didn't stop me...

and the next thing i knew both almagro and nadal were down on the ground, the ER theme song was playing, and my cousin reports that women were swooning all around the stadium...i believe he counted me among them.

and then things got really cheesy when nadal changed his shirt..."i'm too sexy" became the soundtrack in the stadium. i do love the expression of the woman, with the short brown hair, sitting behind nadal's chair.

action shots...not bad, all things considered...

nadal defeated almagro in 3: 7-5, 6-4, 6-4

v for victory, and vamos.

mary jo actually asked him about the "i'm too sexy" bit...i'm not sure how he's really supposed to respond to something like that, except by smiling and hoping the applause will last long enough that the interviewer will move on to the next question.

and then he signed about a hundred autographs on the way out, which i loved to see. smiles all around.