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August 26, 2007
USOPEN Sunday 10am
This is the first entry in my blog from the USOPEN. I am here with long time Austin Tennis Academy student Ashley Weinhold, her parents Guy and Lisa (ATA Pro Shop Manager) and John Des Dunes, Ashley's USTA Coach.
After arriving Saturday afternoon, we all met at the US Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. The first order of business is getting credentials. These are badges that you wear around your neck that get you access to various areas of the tennis center. Coach and Player guest credentials get you everywhere except the locker room. This is a great perk because it allows you to go into the players dining room where you can rub elbows with Roger Federer or Raphael Nadal, both of whom I saw in the dining area. Also the prices are subsidized in the players dining room, so you don't have to play $12 for a hot dog.
After getting credentials we went to practice. The practice was on court 19, probably the furtherest you could get from the center of the facility. (I guess this is where 1st time main draw players get assigned). Ashley and Madison Brengle (another young lady in the same USTA program with Ashley) had 1/2 the court for 45 minutes and that is it, the next group comes on and boots you. The girls practiced hard for that 45 minutes as you can imagine.
Afterward Ashley and Madison went to the USOPEN players meeting while Guy, Lisa and Coach Des Dunes and I met to discuss next year's program for Ashley.
John and I took a trip to the tournament directors office to talk to the practice court scheduler. Because Ashley is playing a top seed in the first round, we pled her case to get some practice time on one of the stadium courts where she might be assigned to play. All the courts were taken except Louis Armstrong from 8-9am. We grabbed the opportunity. We told the girls that the only time available was 6am, they reluctantly agreed to a 6am practice and were delighted when we let them know it was actually 8am. After that we departed the tennis center, Ashley was invited to a party hosted by Wilson, which she attended and was there with some of Wilson's top pros like Roger Federer.
We met at the girl's hotel this morning at 7am. One of the perks of being a main draw player is that you have an official car at your disposal. So we had a car pick us up at the hotel and drop us at the US Tennis Center. We arrived at 7:30am. We were the first players and coaches at the tennis center this morning, something all our players can relate to. We then went to Louis Armstrong Stadium. It is the smaller stadium and holds about 9,000 people when completely full. We used the whole 1.5 hours of practice and the girls did their normal routine and then played about 15 games..about a set and 1/2. This was a great practice due to a number of factors: 1) the girls did not have to share the court. To get the stadium to ourselves for an hour and half is a true practice luxery at the USOPEN, usually only afforded to top seeds.
The rest of the day the girls have off. We will plan a practice for tomorrow and will go out and support the other young American players what are competing in the draw. The schedule for tomorrow should come out later today, check the USOPEN website.
Ashley's first round match will take place some time on Tuesday.
Posted by Jack Newman at August 26, 2007 9:02 AM
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