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US OPEN 2002- Fan Experience
My brother and I had a great time at the Open this year. In conclusion to what happened in New York last year, everyone, especially the fans and players, felt more patriotic during the 2002 season of tennis. A great example is, Davis Cup. So, we decided to bring out an American flag to the Open to support and root for the twins. Fortunately, we made it to each and every one of the twins' matches and caught all of their mixed doubles action too. It was a great two weeks with the twins making the semifinals but losing to eventual champions, Bhupathi/Mirnyi. But, what could be more tough to watch when your fans' of both brothers than watching them play each other in the mixed doubles final on Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, NY. The result? Mike Bryan/Lisa Raymond take the win for the championship 7-6, 7-6 against Bob Bryan/Katarina Srebotnik in 2 tough tie-breakers. We're already hyped up and ready to go to the Open next year!
FAN EXPERIENCE #2 (Natalie)
Tennis Masters Series - Toronto - 2002
Monday, July 29/2002
We go to the Marquee Village (where the player's restaurant is), and who do
we see: Bob and Mike! J Alli walks right up to them and turns to Bob:Hi!
You're Bob, right?(points to necklace) Bob goes: Hi! Yeah! How are you?
Alli:I'm good, you? Bob:Very good! Since we had talked about it before,
Alli asks:Can I shake your hand? I have to admit, I'm surprised! And I'm
not the only one. Both Bob and Mike look at her weird, but end up shaking
her hand (such sweeties!) We wish them good luck and continue on (they look
like they're headed to practice).
Wednesday, July 31/2002
When we get out of the Marquee Village, we immediately go to Court 4, and we
see the Bryan Bros warming up. We make sure we get prime spots against the
fence right behind where they sit.
During the match, I went to a signing session with my mom while Alli kept
our spots. My mom and I run back to Court 4. I rejoin Alli and watch the
rest of the match. The Bryan Bros play amazing! (Such good hands at net!
Enormous serves! And great teamwork! J) Although they lose the first set in
a tiebreaker (so close!), they manage to win the next two sets pretty
easily.
After the match, we go get their autographs, and I ask Bob for his towel. He
grabs the towel and tries to throw it to me behind his back, but it doesn't
work! hehe (too cute!) He says:Guess the backwards things didn't work!
Sorry about that!(So sweet!J) He looks a little embarrassed, but he picks
it up and hands it to me. As he is walking off to the player's lounge, Alli
asks him for a pic with him. So my mom takes the pic, and then says:
Where's your brother?Bob looks back, sees Mike signing autographs, and
yells:Mike! Pic!(and waves him to come over). Mike comes over and my mom
says:This is such a cute pic, especially since they're twins too!(Points
to Alli and I). Bob and Mike go:Really?, take one look at us, realize she
was joking, and start to laugh! My mom takes the pic, we thank them, and
wish them good luck in their next match! (They are sooo sweet! and cute! J)
Thursday, August 1/2002
We head to the Marquee Village, and just before we get to the entrance, I
turn to look at Court 2, and who do I see practicing? Bob and Mike!! I grab
Alli's arm and turn her around. We run over to the court, and lean against
the fence right behind their bags. We snap a couple shots, and wait til
their practice ends. Mike leaves first, but he's too quick for us to say
anything to him. Oh well! We'll see him later at his match! Bob continues to
hit a bit more with their coach. As he gets his bag to leave, we wish him
good luck!
Later in the day, we go to Court 2 to catch the Bros match. We manage to
squeeze into spots along the fence right behind Bob and Mike' chairs. We
watch them warm up and see the first three games. We look at our watch,
realize it's almost 2, and rush over to Federer's signing session,
We hurry at the signing, and run back and regain our spots. Luckily, we
didn't miss too much! My mom says that during a changeover, Bob said to
Mike: Do you wanna try?My mom didn't know what he was talking about, but
shortly after, the umpire announces that a trainer has been called. Doug
Spreen comes and talks to Mike. My mom hears the ladies next to her (who
seem to know Bob and Mike. They would talk to them after a match) say:
Mike's stomach is upset. When the medical time-out is over, Bob and Mike
jump up and jog to their position in unison (like every changeover. Soo
cute!). Underneath Mike's chair, my mom sees a container that has some
Peptol Bismol in it. While they are playing, Doug Spreen takes a bottle with
brown liquid, shakes it, and sprays it on a towel. During the next
changeover, Mike takes the towel, brings it to his face and inhales (or
something like that!). Alli and I weren't there, so we don't know for sure
what happened, or what the brown liquid is.
Whatever it is, it seems to work, because Mike is playing great, and so is
Bob! The first set is really close, but Bob and Mike win it in a tiebreaker
against Julien Boutter (FRA) and Sjeng Schalken (NED)! During the second
set, Alli and I continue to cheer Bob and Mike on:Come on, Bob!Come on,
Mike!Let's go Mike and Bob! The bros are also cheering themselves on.
After almost every point they win, they give each other high fives.
More and more people come to watch the match, and because they see us
cheering, they ask us about them:Who are those two?Bob and Mike Bryan
Where are they from?The U.S. Are they brothers?Identical twins
How do you tell them apart?Well, Bob is left-handed, and Mike is
right-handed. Plus, Bob always wears a beaded necklace and Mike wears a
watch and a wristband.How old are they?24 And so on! They seem
impressed that we know so much about them!
Bob and Mike win, and we cheer loudly! As they come to get their bags, the
ladies next to us (who seem to know them) ask Mike how he is feeling. He
says: well, my stomach's a bit better, but I feel a little nauseous! I
say to him: hope you feel better for your next match! He looks up and
says: Thanx! and smiles! Alli and I congratulate them and wish them good
luck for their next match. I ask Mike for his towel, and he hands it to me!
(Yay! Now I have BOTH of their towels!) As they're leaving, I go over, and
ask them both to sign the towel (since I already have their autographs in my
book), and they do! Then they leave.
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