Match Point

I am often delighted by the little unexpected surprises of living in Pattaya.  Because of it's status as a resort city and its year-round warm climate, Pattaya is host to some international sporting events.  The PGA had an event here shortly after we moved in, and the LPGA will have a tournament next week.  But the one that caught my eye was the Women's Tennis Association tournament, taking place about ten minutes from our condo at the beautiful Dusit Thani Resort.  The PTT Thailand Open is one of 19 tour-level events in the Asia-Pacific, leading to the WTA finals in Singapore in October.  Women from over 100 countries will compete on the road to Singapore.  This level is just one stepping stone away from the elite players of women's tennis, and many of the players involved have competed in the "big leagues."  Venus Williams has played here.  It is a good mix of established players and up-and-comers.

I'd never attended a pro tennis tournament before, but the opportunity was hard to pass up.  So I asked Mick to stop at the Dusit last Wednesday so that I could pick up a ticket.  The tournament was going all week, Feb. 8 - 15.  Tim wasn't interested in going, so I bought a ticket for the Friday quarterfinals, allowing me to attend while he was at work.  The ticket office was way at the back of the hotel, and I felt like I was probably walking through the players' dining area on the way.  But nobody stopped me, so I continued through and soon found the ticket booth.  The ladies helped me to find a good seat in the shade with the sun behind me.  I asked them how long they thought it would run, beginning at 3 p.m., and they thought it would go until maybe nine o'clock.  I wasn't sure I wanted to stay for the whole thing, but hoped to see as many players as possible.

After buying my ticket, we picked up Mika and met Jen and her friend for lunch at Mike's Mexican - yum!  Jen's friend has lived in Thailand for a couple of years already (she's from southern Illinois), and knew the restaurant well.  She knew enough to order the guacamole without lettuce.  (The lettuce under the guacamole has always annoyed Tim - seems most of the little bowl is lettuce with a dollop of guacamole on top.)  She also tipped us off to another good mexican restaurant in east Pattaya.  I think that might be a little far for us, but I'll have to check it out.  Mika said she'd never had Mexican, so I started to explain the menu.  Then she laughed and clarified that she'd never had it since arriving in Pattaya.  In fact, she worked at a Mexican restaurant before - and imagine, I was trying to explain the menu to her.  She probably knew more than me!

Friday finally arrived, and I was excited for a completely new experience.  Mick dropped me at the Dusit just before three.  The venue had been transformed since Wednesday - the way to the courts passed through a pro shop selling tennis merchandise, and some very tall girls with big tennis bags over their shoulders could be spotted here and there.  The courts were completely shielded from view with tarps, and scaffolding had been erected for the seating areas.  Spectators walked down a tunnel and up a few steps to reveal the side-by-side courts.  I found my seat about a dozen rows up - the seating areas were all covered, but the courts were bathed in sunshine.  A stiff wind blew in from the bay, which was off to my left (it bills itself as the only professional tennis event offering "Tennis by the Sea.")

The bay is just beyond the court in this shot

The hotel pool behind me

Two players appeared on the main court a short time after I sat down.  I appreciated seeing all the "behind the scenes" activity that goes into a professional tennis tournament.   I was surprised to see that the two preparing to compete actually warmed up together.  I would have guessed each person would prefer to warm up with a coach or something.  The line judges marched in ceremoniously, with the ball boys and girls behind.  They all assumed their positions around the court.  It takes a lot more line judges than what I was aware - I think I counted seven.  The "changing of the guards" took place at regular intervals, with the on-court judges and and ball retrievers lining up and marching out as a new team marched in to replace them.

The quarter-finals began "without further ado," the first of four matches of the evening, with Russian player Vera Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 2010, facing Marina Erakovic of New Zealand.  The Russian came out strong and quickly took the first set 6-2.  But the New Zealander found her rhythm, and they battled through the next two grueling sets, with the New Zealander finally victorious after a three-plus hour match.  Final score was 6-2, 6-7, 5-7.  It was hot to begin with, but they were both drenched in sweat by the end.

warm-ups

Marina Erakovic

While that match continued, a second match was started and finished on the second court.  This one saw another Russian, Evgeniya Rodina, facing Ajla Tomljanovic from Croatia.  This match started an hour after the first one, but finished before, with the Tomljanovic of Croatia quickly winning 7-6, 6-2.

I enjoyed the international mix in the crowd - I had two German gentlemen conversing behind me, a Japanese family to my right, and a Russian man on my left, who was not happy about the results of these first two matches.  I also enjoyed my seat next to the cameramen - I could see the competition from their viewpoint - literally!















After that marathon match, I was afraid play would go late into the night, but the next two meetings were fairly quick.  Next up was Ying-Ying Duan of China vs. Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.  Hantuchova also came into the tournament with two previous wins here in 2011 and 2012.  She had Duan of China back on her heels fairly quickly, winning the match 6-3, 6-0.

Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 

warm-ups

Ying-Ying Duan of China

The final singles match of the night saw Japanese Misaki Doi facing Puerto Rican Monica Puig.  The Japanese family to my right clearly came to see their country represented - one of the little girls had a hand-made flag of Japan on a pole that she proudly displayed when Doi was on the court.  Puerto Rico is rarely represented in professional tennis, but Monica Puig is one to watch, winning her first trophy in 2014, the first ever for her country.  She also won the Rising Stars Invitational in Singapore.  The young flag-maker beside me was disappointed to see her girl fall to the Puerto Rican, 6-4, 6-2.  The Japanese player looked so tiny on the court compared to the other players, but when I saw her after the match up close, she towered over me.  They must all be close to six feet tall!

Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 

Puig vs Doi

A doubles competition followed these matches, but it was 8:30 p.m., and Tim and Mick had just arrived from work to pick me up.  Yes, I know - Tim working late even on a Friday night :-(  We stopped to pick up some pizza from the new Domino's that just opened near us (!) and called it a night.  So glad to have had the opportunity for another new experience!  (Not the pizza).

In case you're wondering about the finals:

(sorry for the stain - the paper was re-purposed
as a trivet for the dinner table!)