small ball games are boring!!!

hi everybody:

I've been there, I've seen it. It was hot and boring, because I had to lie
still most of the time. Chris has written a long review. And because I am
lazy and it's warm and I want to go outside for my morning walk, here it is,
hope it's as boring for you as it is for me :-)
And if not, you'd better accompany us next time, so Chris has fun and I have
one more person to say hi to!
Cheers, Quito.

Hello everybody:

Yesterday was certainly a highlight day for me. Daniel picked me up, and
first thing he got caught behind a taxi with folks not knowing what they
were going to do. When he finally arrived, I attached Quito to the seatbelt
fastener on the backseat, for the car ride was going to be a fairly long
one. Then we hit the road for Hamburg. The weather was fantastic, no trafic
jams, and we were there very well on time to find a nice car parking spot
and have the baguettes Daniel had brought.

Then we went to the Rothenbaum stadium, where Germany's largest tennis
turnament is held annually. It is still the largest, despite having been
downgraded from an ATP 1,000 to an ATP 500 turnament last year.

You do see that in the draw. Where Nadal and Federer would have been the top
seeded players in May of those years, just two weeks ahead of the French
Open, it is now Davydenko on the top spot three weeks after Wimbledon.

The wheelchair space was empty, for a very long time it was just Daniel and
I there, so Quito had plenty of space stretching out between the two of us.
Daniel was thrilled to be sitting right at courtside, with the barrier low
enough for him to overlook the entire court and take pictures. We sat right
at the baseline, which is an optimal spot for me to listen to the serving
and gaining and losing ground of the player on our side.

We started out with a win by Florian Mayer in three sets, which was followed
by a North German kickstart champ losing to a solidly playing Argentinian.

Then Daniel decided we should take a stroll around, on which I accompanied
him. We found that there were no more of the beautiful turnament mugs sold -
that's really sad, as I had wanted to equip mom and myself with some more.

The day was really warm, and folks came by and asked if Quito had enough
water and if they could do anything for us. Well I took the opportunity to
recharge on the water reservoire, supported by a lady, who filled the second
bottle with water. The faucets are so low that you have to change the
water's direction so it goes into the bottle. I took the chance to fill my
own water reservoire, while Daniel recharged his batteries with a crepe. A
man came up and inquired about Quito. He must have been disappointed, for he
thought he knew all the Hovawart breeding dogs around, but he surely didn't
know quito's father.

Then it was back inside to continue the progress of two Germans, and I was
delighted to see the north German guy win, who had only lost to Roger
Federer in this year's French open third round.

Then came Davydenko, the top seeded player, who won easily against his
opponent. A million thanks once again to Daniel, how did I manage to beg so
nicely that you agreed to watch Juan-Carlos Ferrero, too? Ferrero had
trouble with his opponent in the first set, he won in the tie break, and the
second set was a solid stroll. We saw wonderful claycourt tennis in the
second game, and modern aggressive and fast playing in the last, precise
strokes by Davydenko and Flo Mayer's fighting spirit, while Reister played a
dynamic game, too. I really had fun with all the tennis.

Thanks once more to Danniel. See, the special joy of sighted company is not
necessarily the easy access to a venue, but the extra feedback you receive.
Daniel explained the way the umpires communicate with their lines people,
and also commented on the extra tasks of the lines judges and ball kids. I
also get an impression of how a player interacts with them, plus, for Daniel
knows the game, comments on extremely nice or really bad shots, which I can
picture much better given the acoustic optimum I am experiencing at
courtside.

Quito thought it was dead boring, she got up to get me to leave several
times; and whenever I told her to settle she took the opportunity to kiss my
nose. When camera people came to doo their job, Quito thought they might
want to entertain her, but they, too, were boring. At one point she calmly
got up and greeted the ladies beside us, walked back, said hi to Daniel and
then settled. She loved the strolls around the most, I think, and doesn't
understand why I am so thrilled about boredom.

On the way home we had loads of fun again, free roads and great music and
great laughs, and Daniel's conclusion that the day was nice over all, and he
says, much to my delight, that he will return next year. Sounds like I've
got a realistic chance to go, too? right? O what a joy!

And if all goes well, I will receive two tennis-related boks too, about
Nadal; One is in Spanish, I don't know if I will ever manage to read it
completely, but what does it matter when in my tennis collection there's one
French and one Persian book, too?

Have a very wonderful day everybody, cheers, Chris:-)