Jan 18
I’m on my way home to Bermuda after almost a week back at, er, home in the UK seeing family, mates and those Addicks.
I have been in Eastbourne most of the trip, my parents live just outside the town, and although it has been bloody freezing, Eastbourne did live up to it’s billing of the Sunshine Coast.
Please click for moreIn my lifetime I have been so lucky to be able to watch three of the best men tennis players in history plus the best British tennis player for many generations.
I was up early this morning to watch from Melbourne the final of the men’s Australian Open and Rafa Nadal play Daniel Medvedev and in what became the second longest men’s Grand Slam final at 5 hours and 24 minutes.
Please click for moreWhen I was 18 I was in Henry’s in Bromley drinking beer, trying to chat to girls and get Scott Minto’s autograph.
Emma Raducano’s achievement tonight of becoming the U.S. Open champion is quite mindboggling. She came from out of literally nowhere. Just 18 and with a youth tennis path so different to child prodigy’s we have seen in the past.
Please click for moreI was in Queens, New York yesterday watching the U.S. Tennis Open. It was a flying visit, one full day, two nights and four Covid tests. We had great seats for Tuesday’s afternoon session and in the first quarter final game watched Danill Medvedev beat outsider Botic Van De Zandschulp, ranked 454 in the world.
The Russian was cruising, but in the 3rd set the Dutchman made a game of it delaying our escape to find some shade. It was a hot day, the sun, motionless above us, was baking hot, thus the famed honey deuces were a necessity for hydration purposes. Medvedev, the no.2 seed eventually won 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5.
Please click for moreThe best day on the couch. Ever!
A severe case of RSI tonight flicking between channels like a mad person as both the ICC World Cup Cricket Final and the Wimbledon Men’s Final concluded within minutes of each other.
Back from a birthday weekend in New York, which pushed my step counter to record highs. Ask anyone in Bermuda and we don’t walk anywhere here. So it was lovely to walk and walk especially knowing that the option of getting into a yellow taxi would mostly end in frustration as the driver won’t have any idea of where you are wanting to go, and unlikely to understand much English.
Possibly because my best mate is a black cab driver, but few things in life wind me quite up as much as a local taxi driver not having a solitary clue to where they are going.
We crammed a lot into the weekend and I ate more pasta than I have in a long while, mostly because Eataly, which was close to our hotel, was like a huge gnocchi shaped magnet for us. If you are a foodie and haven’t been in an Eataly then you should add it to your bucket list.
About 32 miles north east of Tampa is where I’m heading smack bang in the middle of today’s FA Cup tie against AFC Wimbledon. With work, how inconsiderate.
I have to be there for Monday morning which meant travelling today. Bermuda to Miami to Tampa and the 32 mile drive. I am heading to quite a cool place though. The Saddlebrook Resort is a golf and tennis mecca with 45 tennis courts, two 18-hole golf courses, as well as a 16-acre golf training academy and a 7,000 sq ft spa. Shame I’m there for work, but I might be able to sneak in a bit of recreation, hopefully a tennis lesson at the very least.
We are staying in Barra da Tijuca and purposely picked an apartment close to the new BRT station, Jardim Oceanico. And today for our first day of Olympic action we made our way a couple of minutes around the corner to the station so new that the paint was wet, and the whole journey was easy. 20 minutes most on a brand spanking new bus that floated past traffic in an express lane to get us to Barra’s Parque Olimpico, home to nine different venues including the Tennis Centre, built brand new for the Olympics with an impressive centre court and 15 outside courts, which I would hazard a guess we’re temporary structures.
Barra Olympic Park was previously a Formula One race track and was home to the Brazilian Grand Prix. It was demolished in 2012 to make way for one of the key Rio 2016 centres and will, hopefully, leave the largest sporting legacy to the country once the Olympics has packed it’s rings and moved the circus on.
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After a crazy work end of the first quarter, this week with the family I escaped to Florida and the unusually hip and arty city of Sarasota (photo), situated on the gulf coast just south of Tampa and St Petersburg. There are more museums, galleries and top rated restaurants than anywhere else in Florida and this part of the United States is also renowned for its tennis. World class academies attract the best talent and as such we watched a couple of excellent women’s finals on Sunday at the Wilde Lexus USTA finals in Osprey. 60th world ranked Madison Brengle won the singles.
The family go home today but I am travelling to Atlanta this afternoon and then after a night in Buckhead, 8 of us drive out to Augusta, the home of the iconic Masters. I am fortunate to be an invited guest for Saturday’s round and we stay overnight in our house close to the course no doubt wind swept and thirsty before an early return to Atlanta, which is a good couple of hours from Augusta, before flying home to Bermuda.
7/7 is a day synonymous with London and today in glorious sunshine the nation finally witnessed a British winner of Wimbledon after 77 years of disappointment and mostly forlorn hopelessness.
Great credit to Andy Murray who many had written off as a nearly man, but with Ivan Lendl at his side the Scotsman has taken his game to another level the past 18 months.
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Putting the mighty Addicks to one side for the moment, other than the League One title winners, 2012 was a sensational year for sport. There were many screaming at the telly, jumping up and down moments but here were my Top 5 Favourite Sporting Moments of 2012:
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Today is a rather sombre day in New York City but late last night the Arthur Ashe Stadium was anything but sombre as another titanic Grand Slam tennis final between two gladiators came to close almost 5 hours after it started.
It was a breathtaking match to watch. The first set was gruelling with the tie break lasting longer than many women’s sets. Murray sensationally won the next set, but then the impending doom started to set in as Djokovic roared himself back into the game.
Both players were hitting some brutish returns as games often went 30 and 40 shots and as Djokovic powered himself back into contention on his favourite surface, Murray started to cut a familiar disconsolate figure and at the end of the 4th set many may have gone to bed fearing another ‘if only’ Murray tear-jerker.
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Back in Bermuda, but not back at work as I had designated today as my team’s first annual Sports Day. Seven of us met for breakfast at 8am at the Fairmont Southampton near to my home. We then went out and played 9 holes of golf at the hotel’s par 3 course.
We started out in the rain but came back to the club house in the sunshine. We then played tennis for an hour and a half. This was the first time I’ve played tennis since my knee operation almost 2-years ago. It felt good and not unexpectedly I enjoyed the tennis more than the golf.
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Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray produced an excellent final of the Sony Ericsson Open here in Miami this afternoon. In searing heat and high humidity the Serb and the Scot slogged it out for almost two and a half hours producing rally after rally.
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After a manic, and an often wearing March at work we leave Bermuda tomorrow for a week away spending the first weekend in Coral Gables, near Miami and then next week in Colorado followed by the majority of the next weekend making our way back from the mountains to Bermuda, not something the airlines allow us to do simply.
As I posted last weekend we have tickets for the Sony Ericsson Open tennis men’s final on Sunday afternoon. In today’s semi’s Rafa Nadal plays Andy Murray and number one seed Novak Djokovic is paired with the 21st seed Argentinian Juan Monaco.
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Chicago Addick 