Well, here we are. 8 hours, several clouds of dust, 3,000 cows, and an L.A. traffic jam (plus 2 tanks of gas at over $4 per gallon) later, and I’ve arrived all the way from San Francisco take my honorary blogger’s post at the BNP Paribas Open.
As much as I’d like to say that my entrance was of the typical red carpet variety, I’ve always been an honest person, so I’ll tell you the truth: The fact is that the credential tent couldn’t find my credentials when I arrived to pick them up. And, on top of that, the woman who runs the show in the credential-handing-out tent gave me a strange look while perusing my California driver license.
“Oddo?” she said. “Why does that name ring a bell?”
And here I am thinking, oh no, 8 hours of driving and countless hours of practicing my interview skills in the mirror, plus all those random hopes and dreams that I’ve been having about becoming the most celebrated tennis writer on this side of the Mississippi (also known as the side more likely to encounter a Tsunami).
Suddenly, I find myself sweating. Gulp. “I’m with On the Baseline,” I say, meekly.
“Hmmm,” says the scary lady, “I feel like I know that name, like I received a call about you.”
Luckily, it was all just a mistake. The credentials were there. And so was I, albeit a few pounds lighter, with beads of sweat running down my neck and forehead.
And so here I am, at my corner desk near the door that everybody storms through on their way to the press conferences, happy as a tennis ball after being massaged by Kim Clijster’s Babolat VS Natural Gut strings. Here I am ready to dive in and get myself fully immersed in the early round action. It’s only been a few hours but I must tell you, I’m already quite sure it was worth the trip and a whole lot more.
On my first tour on the grounds I got to see Francesca Schiavone finish off a shell-shocked Zuzana Ondraskova, much to the delight of a very appreciative crowd on Stadium 2. (Hard not to love Francesca, don’t you agree?)
I also stopped in to watch Maria Kirilenko and Victoria Azarenka play some points and hit some volleys with each other. Needless to say, I wasn‘t the only one doing that, and I had to wait for my turn to get an unobstructed view of the two.
There’s a lot going on here, and the weather is perfect, so I’m going to call this post a wrap and let you know that I’ll be back a little later with a full report on the upcoming Andrea Petkovic-Lucie Safarova match. I’m gonna plop down with my notepad, pen, and camera and see what sense I can make of it.
That’s all for now!
Here’s a few quick videos of the action around the grounds today. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/user/thefanchild#p/a/u/2/X1WfNq9CGGk
http://www.youtube.com/user/thefanchild#p/a/u/0/sWSrQ_FIiDM
http://www.youtube.com/user/thefanchild#p/a/u/1/v5mKfnZlmB8
