Rafa Nadal became the greatest tennis player in the world this summer and he proved it at the US Open on the Billie Jean King stage by completing the career grand slam in tennis, defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. I think some year he will complete the Grand Slam in the calendar year. We did not see him play at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open or the US Open. We saw the transition of Federer to Nadal as the best in the sport. We saw Federer win the AO, get beat in the quarter final by Soderling at the French to stop his appearance run in the Grand Slam semi’s at 23, and get beat again in the quarters at (more…)
September 16, 2010
Back in the USA – 2010 US Open in NYC
Posted by George and Ann under New York, Travel | Tags: Federer, Grand Slam tennis, Nadal, Ryan Harrison, Sports, tennis, Travel, US Open |Leave a Comment
July 7, 2010
The Wimbledon experience
Posted by George and Ann under England, London, Travel, Wimbledon | Tags: Grand Slam tennis, Sports, tennis, Travel, Wimbledon |[2] Comments
Nadal had his eye on one thing.
The ghost of Fred Perry haunted Murray.
S.Williams was ace supreme.
CLICK image -In "The Queue" with queue card and instruction booklet.
BUT THE REALLY BIG NEWS WAS………….
Our first full day in London was spent trying to secure tickets for Wimbledon with no luck. At noon, the tournament sold returned tickets on Ticketmaster. We tried getting returns for hours. Also at 8:30pm, 400 more tickets were released for the back row of Center Court. Many more hours on the website and no tickets. It looked like we would have to go to Wimbledon and wait in “The Queue”. The next day, arriving on the edge of the tournament grounds, we were greeted by overly-friendly Wimbledon stewards who directed us through a gate for non-ticket holders. A walkway led to a grassy field (more…)
July 4, 2010
The French Open
Posted by George and Ann under France, French Open, Travel | Tags: Grand Slam tennis, Paris, Paris museums, Sports, tennis, Travel |Leave a Comment
Roland Garros is at the crossroads of Grand Slam tennis.
The train ride from Venice Italy to Paris France is 8 hours long with a 20 minute train transfer in Milan Italy. The only way to get to the train station in Venice, other than walking, is by water taxi. Riding in the canals was a fun experience, as was the train ride to Milan. But once in Milan, all the train seats faced forward, which must have confused everyone for no one could find their right seat or car. For about 20 minutes in our car it was musical chairs. Different languages were trying to settle seating disputes. Once we crossed the French border, the French National police asked everyone for their passports. At the next station stop, about 6 people were taken off the train…and taken somewhere.
Click image to see who belongs to this arm.
June 7, 2010
Barcelona, Spain -Tennis, Art, Beach and so much more
Posted by George and Ann under Spain | Tags: Artists, Barcelona, Barcelona Open, Sagrada Familia, Sports, statues, tennis, Travel |1 Comment
Entrance to the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899 site of the Barcelona Open
Our first 4 days in Barcelona were spent at the 2010 Barcelona Tennis Open at a tennis club. We stayed in a hotel right outside the train station and took bus 32 right to the stadium.
Gasquet CLICK
If you click the image of Gasquet a tournament player slide show of the matches we watched will appear with the match results.
We sent logs to the Albany Times Union Tennis Blog. If you click this scoreboard 
you will see our day one log of the event. If you click this scoreboard 
you will get day three activity.
Verdasco beat Soderling in the final 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
February 13, 2010
Melbourne – The Australian Open tennis grand slam
Posted by George and Ann under Australia, Australian Open, Travel | Tags: Hisense arena, Melbourne, Sports, tennis, Tennis grand slam, Trams, Travel |[9] Comments
- Downtown Melbourne skyline
After being in Tokyo, Beijing and Bangkok, when arriving in Melbourne we seriously wondered where everyone was. No scooters or bikes to be seen anywhere and as matter of fact there where not many cars. We crossed the 6 lanes of roadway outside the train station and for the first time in 3 months we could cross the road other than at the intersection and we did not have to weave through traffic, because there was none. On the sidewalk no bikes, no scooters, no people. Our hotel was across the road from the train station, where in the other cities the train station was full of hustle and bustle and confusion, not here. After checking in we took the recommended means of (more…)
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