Month: March 2010

First of all I would be derelict if I didn’t wish Sarah a happy, happy, birthday! She turns 30 today and is a little unsure if she is at all happy about this. I’ve told her that 30’s are the best. You are still young and energetic but you’ve figured out a lot of the stuff that caused you grief when you were younger. So enjoy your day!

Next, I am sure everyone has been hanging on the edge of their seats wondering what happened at the tennis tournament. I guess the big news is that Ivan Ljubicic and Jelena Jankovich won. At least it’s big news in the former Yugoslavia. Unlikely winners, but they were both so happy that it is hard to not like them.

The other big news, at least to me, is that I got so sick that I couldn’t attend the final. I still have a terrible cold and am just beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel (I hope.)

We had a wonderful time at the tournament (except for the being sick) and were treated wonderfully by everyone we came in contact with. I am so glad that we went.

La Quinta Resort is really pretty. There are so many flowers. I guess they don’t get frost here. The mountains overlooking this valley are topped with snow making it really picturesque. They have a ton of tennis courts here as well as the Tom Gorman Tennis School. There’s also a golf course, restaurants, shops and condos, homes and rental units.

Can you hear the crowd roar?!! Here’s John hitting a serve during our hit this morning at La Quinta. What a beautiful day! The sky is so blue here. Because we haven’t yet had enough tennis, we thought we’d go out and show the pros a thing or two. John took a clinic yesterday and was eager to practice his new shots.

John’s pick, Alisa Kleybanova, played her final match today. She has a big game and hopefully we’ll see her advance farther in the future. But today she was beaten by…

Jelena Jankovic from Serbia. She’s doing well here but one does wonder if she would be advancing if the Williams’ sisters and Safina were here.

The afternoon match was Juan Monaco v. Ivan Ljubicic. Monaco’s plan to beat Ljub wasn’t working and he seemed to have no plan B. So he got trounced by…

Ivan Ljubicic from Croatia. He looks about 50 even though he’s only 31. He is going for the James Blake look alike contest here or perhaps he just wants the halo look.

Tomas Berdych has great ground strokes and the most androgynous face on the tour. He has beaten Nadal in the past and brought with him a game plan of hitting big strokes against Nadal and taking his time away.

Berdych has some really fine strokes when Nadal isn’t hitting him off the court. As you can see from the score, Berdych is making a match of it in the second set. However, he lost in two sets.

Can’t remember if I’ve said this before, but Nadal is one of the nicest, most gracious players out here. He always applauds his opponent and he always signs all the autographs. No wonder he is a fan favorite.