[envenonearo]

MEANWHILE, this damned crap hotel internet yet again ate what I had been writing here- AHHHHHH!- even though I swear I had been saving what I had been writing. So, I'll try to recreate some of what I had been writing:

*Happy for Lisa and Huber (some GOTTA think, neck-ball-choking-history drama and all, that Huber had a break coming to her, having lost the US Open doubles final last year after having a match point with Petrova)- but I was also very bummed to watch King and Shvedova blow it. Shvedova served for the match at 5-4 in the second- and proceeded to play a chokey, nervous game- and they were never really quite the same again- albeit if I recall this correctly they got to two points away from winning at some point in the second set. Up until then, they had been playing such lovely, free and fun tennis- pretty close to the high quality level of the mens doubles winners. None of the players played at their best consistently- although of course there were some very great and fun points. LOVE doubles quick net exchanges. Still, amazing accomplishment for Raymond and Huber.

*While it was great to start off first row Center Court again for the women's doubles final (and then second and then third row, as of course the hoity-toity came in to claim their seats around the end of the doubles match), I had pre-internet-screwing-up posted a long bit about an ick encounter I had with this crazy large woman and a truly snotty couple. But, I'm too tired now to repeat this- so, let me just say, thank goodness for once I had the right response when presented with a couple of snot-bags (such situations where people are being mean- this time to someone else- yep, the large crazy women- too often leave me speechless.) AND- I guess I'm just meant to be among the riff-raff is all.

*SO!!!!! excited for Sam, and so happy that I was wrong that Sam had blown her one chance to win a Singles Slam title. IMO it all was a perfect storm for "How Sam Stosur Could Manage to Beat Serena Williams in a US Open Final"- she played incredible, and Serena, due to (take your pick) her health/possible injury/having to play so late the day before/nerves/"aging" player status, played below her gifts. In particular, Serena just could not rely on her serve to bail her out- although Sam was SO smart to very often kill Serena's second serves throughout this match. I am so happy for Sam- that she didn't let her demons run her down this time, played a great match throughout (we'd seen Sam play great first sets three times, only to lose her way in the second set during three matches- I suspect Sam had to realize that she could not have afforded a second set letdown against Serena, the way she could survive this against the others), and she was able to put any Serena drama aside. SO happy to be there to see this. Live, it was all the more impressive how Sam played- REALLY hitting the hell out of the ball, then slicing, running Serena all over the court, moving the serve all over the place. What a concept- having a plan and sticking to it for a Slam final.

*It was AMAZING that the tennis did not end up really getting rained out these past two days- especially today, when it looked like it was going to pour all day. There was a brief rain delay period yesterday and today- AND it actually was raining a bit while Sam and Serena were warming up, and I felt a minor drop of rain here and there during the match. But, I sure got to see a LOT of tennis- which I am thrilled about.

*Unless the US Open Ticket Exchange option can produce a REAL cheap ticket offer, I'm not going to the men's final. Gonna spend a lazy day in NYC tomorrow, and maybe catch a show, before returning to Chicago on Tuesday (when I extended this vacation, I figured with the weather that this upped my chances of getting to see all of the matches I had paid for.)

*Got to see a bunch of bits and pieces of junior and wheelchair tennis these past two days (although I only got to see Esther during her awards ceremony .) Watched the first few games of the Grace Min/Caroline Garcia final, until I had to go to the women's doubles final. Both have solid games- although I never have any idea of whether or not juniors will succeed in the pros. Garcia clearly needs to learn to not over-hit during tight situations. I had seen Grace win the Wimbledon junior doubles final thanks to the internet (and I got a DVD copy), and John and I managed to see Grace play in Lexington- so, I'm so happy that she won. Sure hope she can grow some though. Also got to see Taylor Townsend and fellow African American partner Gabrielle Andrews just win their second set, and then lose the third set tiebreaker to Demi Schuurs and a VERY! feisty teeny-tiny Russian (who let's just say, ahem, TRULY wished to win this damned thing, trust me- if folks had seen her, they'd not be so critical of Novak) Irina "She Needs to Grow Taller Too" Khromacheva. Wish I could have seen more of this- some well-played tennis, albeit with a few too many junior-esque moon balls in that third set tiebreaker.

*No photos this time, I'm afraid. John's the photo-taker in this family. And, I just tend to find that if I focus too much on taking photos, it takes me out of experiencing all that I want to experience, especially with Slam matches.