If we were a week later, Brian would have been old enough to go drinking with us…
With her Aunt Ellen, Uncle Ted, and Cousin Brian for the 2003 US Tennis Open.
Kelli and I drove all the way to Newark, NJ for free lodging….
Instead, he had to settle for soda with his pizza.
So after hanging out with family, we cut across Manhattan…
To the USTA National Tennis Center….
To see the 2003 US Open women’s Final.
We were early, so we walked around Flushing Meadows and took some pictures.
Always stop to smell the flowers!!!
This is the unisphere left over from the 1964 world’s fair.
The blimp circled all day, taking pictures of everyone under the new security of “The Patriot Act”.
See the rainbow?
Kelli points to where we are.
Like the remote controlled cars these kids were racing.
The park, has plenty of room for sports of all types….
This is the “Queens Theatre in the Park”. You may recognize it as the launching pad for aliens in the popular movie “Men in Black.”
Upon arriving back at the tennis center, we were allowed entry, even though there was still 2 hours before the women’s final was supposed to start.
But while Kelli watched Andy Roddick in the Men’s Semi-final….
A group of people came up and offered us their tickets to go in and watch the match!!!!!!!!!
Turns out,they had been there all day, and were going home.
Instead of just leaving their seats empty….
They decided to give them to two VERY happy tennis fans.
So while David Nalbandian and Andy Roddick rested…..
Kelli and I enjoyed the view from our 15th row center court seats!!!!
And his impressive serve.
His coach, Brad Gilbert…..
With the zoom lens, I was able to get a few good shots of Andy…
The whole crowd went crazy when he won his advance into the finals.
Andy, OVER HERE!!!!!
Andy and David arm wrestle to decide who gets to talk to reporters first.
Pam Shriver interviews the eventual men’s 2003 US Tennis Open champion.
“I’d just like to thank Scott and Kelli for coming out. Without there support, I could never have done it!!!”
This is a woman who is truely happy with how the day is turning out.
Seeing we had tickets to the event that evening, we didn’t have to join the common folk and their fight to get into Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Because we scored the super cool free tickets earlier in the day….
I didn’t get a chance to walk around the tennis area and take pictures….
So these are a couple from the stadium.
That’s the moon orbiting the unisphere.
The sunset that evening was amazing!!
This crowd of people was taking pictures of the sunset before it was gone.
And these are our seats for the women’s final. Not as good, but we’re just happy to be there.
OK, This was where we were sitting earlier.
Kelli’s fantasy man.
Natalie Cole performed America the Beautiful….
While the color guard let you know what country you are in.
Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters (both Belgian) enter the court.
They quickly got setup…..
And prepared for the match to come.
Check out the free hat they gave you for coming.
Justine serves to Kim….
Who sends the ball right back!!!!
The crowd, eager to see who wins…
To see Justine Henin-Hardenne emerge as the 2003 Women’s US Open Tennis Champion!!!
I’ll meet you in the locker room later!!
So after telling the umpire off…
Only has to wait one hour and twenty-one minutes….
And two short sets….
It’s trophy time!!!
Kim got the plate and $500,000….
While Justine got the cup and $1,000,000!!!!
Sounds like they’re both winners to me.
And I’m just the loser who got to watch.
Once again, her fantasy guy.
On our way back through NYC, we picked up Jeff on the corner of Broadway and Canal.
He was happy not to have to work the corner any more that night, and took us out for a couple drinks.
The next day, and Uncle Ted is giving us directions to get away from his house.
Well it was a great trip, and we came home to find our own tennis trophy, courtesy of Rob Dinkle.