I was able score some tickets with one of my close tennis buddy, Rick. We had tickets to the morning and evening sessions at HP Pavilion. We decided to delay our trip in the early morning to catch the second match of the morning session. After a long drive down to San Jose, we caught some practice time with Marty Fish and Sam Querry.
I was also able to catch the FAMOUS lines woman. Do you recognize her??
The first match we saw that day was Malisse vs. Russel. I was not able to get that many pics due to the excitement during the match. These guys has some great rallies. Russel really deflected most of the power Malisse put on his shots. Russel’s high topspin groundstrokes fed off Malisse’s flat forehand and backhand. Russel prevailed and won the match.
Next up, we had Querry vs. Dent. These guys were both powerhouse players. Querry was tall and was able to blast serves. Dent was really muscular which led him to blast some groundstrokes. I never thought Dent was that built up as a tennis player.
After the morning session, I was able to get an autograph from Querry and Fish.
To start the evening matches, we had Roddick and Mayer. We all knew how Roddick played before the match. As for Mayer, I thought he may be a good challenge for Roddick at the beginning of the match.
It was great how Roddick’s personal trainer and agent sat right behind us in the coach’s box. Most of the time, Roddick would look over towards his trainer. I would think that Roddick was looking straight at me. Roddick looked over and made a comment of how he was happy that his first serve percentage was over 72%. Roddick ended up winning the match.
The last match of the night was Verdasco vs. Becker.
Verdasco was the favorite coming in as a Top 10 player of the tour. I have seen Becker play in other tourneys before the SAP. Becker played extremely well in the first set. Verdasco was put in a tight position where he could have lost the first set. But he held his game and won the match.
I was able to get a lot of good video from the match. I have compiled a big video from the smaller clips…
CHECK OUT THE REST OF MY PICTURES FROM THURSDAY.
Enjoy!