Tennis Sunday
Apr 28th, 2014 by willmarks
On most Sunday afternoons, Max takes a 10-15 minute tram ride up the Diagonal to Club Laietà, where he plays tennis matches; his lessons/clinics are on Monday and Wednesday evenings.
But yesterday, before Max’s match, we were in for a special treat, with plans to see the final of the ATP Barcelona Open, at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, also not far from home. Given world #1 Nadal’s record 8 Barcelona titles and with him at the top of his game, we were excited to purchase tickets a month ago in anticipation of watching Rafa master the clay. And the final would likely pit him against another great Spaniard, be it second seed David Ferrer (#5 in the world) or fifth seed Tommy Robredo (#18 in the world). What good fortune for us, being able to see these great players in their home country!
But as the days passed, Ferrer lost in the second round (after a first round bye), Robredo in the third, and Nadal in the quarters. Even Nicolas Almagro, the steady Spanish sixth seed who beat Nadal, lost in the semis…hmmm. So the final included the fourth seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan (ranked 17 in the world, now 12) and Santiago Giraldo of Colombia (ranked 65 in the world, now 47).
After winning the first game and breaking serve in the second, Giraldo had the edge. FYI—telephoto lens; I guess I’m glad we didn’t pay a fortune to see Rafa up close.
But a questionable out call seemed to break crowd favorite Giraldo’s focus and Nishikori won the next 6 games to take the first set. A change of shirt in the second set didn’t help.
Nishikori continued to dominate, handily winning 6-2, 6-2.
Quickly, we left for Max’s match, not a great distance away; we made the trek on foot. I always enjoy the backdrop at the courts where Max plays, with Camp Nou, home of Barça, almost next door; note the Nike and Estrella billboards at the top of the 99,000-seat stadium.
Max played brilliantly, winning 6-1, 6-0; his opponent’s strokes were lovely but Max’s consistency was the deciding factor.
And here are some players from Max’s team…
