Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Palm Springs and Professional Tennis Players

This was a big year for my dad.  He turned 70 in March and we wanted to do this milestone up BIG!!!  So Lisa and I had conspired for months to take dad to watch professional tennis in Palm Springs at the BNP Peribas open played at the Indian Springs Tennis club.  I can't tell you how many times I almost slipped up and blew the surprise, but we all made it (including Sadie) and he was blindsided by the news. We bought tickets for three days of tennis which got us two of the men's quarterfinal matches, all mens semi's and the men's finals.  We also caught the women's semifinals and finals.  Needless to say, it was an AWESOME trip.  Really it had been a dream of mine to watch Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play before they retired, and so this trip was really on my life list.  

We flew in on Thursday and treated the birthday boys to a fancy dinner at Copley's in Palm Springs.  The restaurant is in what was Cary Grant's guest house and so the venue was beautiful.  And because the weather was amazing we were able to sit out on the patio and enjoy great food and company.  

Happy Birthday to my dad!


It was really David's birthday, so they gave him dessert on the house.


After dinner we strolled down the main street in search of Great Shakes.  On our way we found a great hat store and ducked in to buy dad a hat to wear to the tennis courts on Friday.  Lisa and I tried on a few hats for this years Kentucky Derby.  I felt like Eliza Doolittle in this one!
And we found Great Shakes… they made great shakes!  And they put tiny donuts on the straws which were amazing all on their own!

Friday = TENNIS!  Here we are walking through the tunnel from the parking to the tennis complex.


 And here is the dream team!  Only the best three players in the WHOLE WORLD!!! 
 But there is only one for me! Love Roger!
 "I am totally freaking out right now!"
 Davis prefers Rafa, and his ball.
 Curt is more of a Djokovich man.
 "It's really him!" He has the most amazing form and out of all the players he makes it look so easy.
 Although Rafa and Roger didn't get to play each other, which is the ultimate dream, this was still a huge moment for me.  Rafa plays with so much passion and intensity!  Vamos Rafa!

 
 He looks like he's enjoying himself, right?
 Cuz we are!
 Oh yeah, and Andy Murrey. He was a bit of a disappointment. I think he played his best tennis just to get to the semis.
 Oh, and who is that? It's Boris Becker! He coaches Djokovich.
 Oh, and who is this other incredible famous person? Gavin Rossdale. I doubt he gets recognized much since his wife is WAY more famous than he is now, but we remember his band from the 90's, Bush.
 Federer in post interview.
 We hoped to get an autograph. Unfortunately he was ready to get off the court.
 And this is as close as we came.

 Men's final: Federer vs. Djokovich. It was a great match that went three sets. Djokovitch pulled out the win in the end.

 We had great seats!

I really hope this was not my last opportunity to watch these great players live. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Serena Williams play… she pulled out of the semis with a knee injury. They waited to announce it until about 10 minutes before she was scheduled to play. That was the only mar on an otherwise perfect trip. I can't wait to get Max and Asher out on the tennis court this summer to start their professional tennis careers. Ha!

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