brisbane's gallery is up

yes and you can go and view all the lovely tennis action pics here

as usual, the more popular a player, the more of his/her pics i'll add to the gallery.

daniela is the most popular right now within the brisbane gallery... someone must have found them and told others :)

on another note... wondering where the melbourne pics are? well me too. hopefully i'll get hold of them in a few days.

but first... sydney's will be next. stay tuned...

brisbane tennis 2009, part II

a view from brisbane's south bank 'beach' - the two player hotels are in the background. i don't know much about the history, but to me the it's a very pleasant precinct, new, clean, upmarket, quiet, but close to city centre, and served by public transport. (hmm should check out some properties in the area... )

'mr berdych, believe me when i tell you i have the greatest admiration for you...'
'hmmm'

feeling kinda blue, without my regular partner arno......



frenchies in serious discussion, whether marcos would lose this match, or lose his hair first.





a familiar sight at the brisbane tennis... novak on the run while signing autographs (or posing for pics) and being chased by fans

sunset at the tennis centre. hang on, do we know that guy sitting there?








this doesn't happen often in a tournament - a player waiting court side for an earlier match to end. not surprisingly, the other match was veeery long.... for marion bartoli

a bird eye's view... cameras are placed on rooftop to capture the action inside centre court. another creative service brought to you from brisbane.



that's it folks for the blog! more pics (serious action stuff) will be uploaded to the regular vtp galleries...... coming soon :)

brisbane tennis 2009, part I

i'm back from this brand new tournament and tennis centre in australia... with blisters on my feet. i'm not a public transport type, and it's altogether too much walking for me (especially with the shoes that i'd got :()

but as you can see, there's plenty of shade around the grounds. the centre court and courts 1 and 2 have roofs on them, although they don't give shade to the seats on 1 and 2.

or should i say, seats on 3 and 4? somehow the architects had forgotten to design spaces in between courts so that seats could be placed... so the spectator stands on courts 1 and 2 are actually standing on courts 3 and 4. the other outside courts are all fenced in, and spectators (including the players' coaches and cheer squads) had to watch outside the door/fence, using whatever seating they could find. (or simply, stand)

it's now time i should give you some photos of players, or you'll be all gone in a sec...

who is this cool lady player? here at the tennis centre, there's a handy shaded area where you can watch players come and go (to courts).

the guy in sunnies is juan carlos ferrero, ready for a picnic in the sun... not. he appeared pleased with a gift from a devoted fan :)

officials pinning the new atp logo onto the net - another new invention this year

richard gasquet spotted at a balcony overlooking court 1, where benneteau and ginepri were battling it out. richard was busy with a few things...

... like hand-signalling to someone at a distance (while eating his lunch, and using his phone).

this is marcos baghdatis. appearing courtesy of a tournament wild card, marcos was given the superstar treatment by his many fans. lucky they caught him early, as marcos didn't get to stay on for long...

this is one of the official paper cut-out... djokovic in the 'atp logo' pose.

another people-watching interlude and i caught camille pin, one of VTP's favs... why are all frenchies always on the phone?

camille pin in practice. is this the first time i show you a practice court? see the shadow of the fence in the foreground, and you understand why.

more later...

it's that time of the year again....

... to get ready for the new year, and the new tennis season down under!

i'm planning to go to the new combined tournament in brisbane, and then back home to the old favourite sydney.

but i'll give melbourne a miss in 2009. crowd conditions, for me, have been getting intolerable the last two years. it just seems to me that the grand slam down under is only keen about growing attendance numbers, without any consideration for improved services and facilities.

normally fans don't have a choice. we are 'lucky' enough to host a grand slam tournament and get to see it, so no one should be complaining, right? well, my aging bones simply can't put up with that, unfortunately. so no more than two weeks in a row for me - i'll simply watch the telly after that. and send someone else to do the photos! :p

btw if anyone wants tips on travelling to sydney for the tennis, here's a link to mens tennis forums for more info.