Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Tennis Memories

I've been watching the US Open and it's brought back some great tennis moments for me.

Back in the late 80s, when I worked for the giant evil corporation, I got to attend a match at Centre Court at Wimbledon.

What I remember most was how green it all seemed. And small.
I called it intimate so as to not be a total ugly American.
I loved it. The weather was cloudy and cool and the people were delightful.
I have no recollection of who was playing. Two guys in white.

I'm so glad I got to Centre Court before it was renovated.

 Then

Now

I've also attended the US Open a few times. Again, thanks to work - schlep some clients to the good seats and be lady like.

The Tennis Center in NYC is amazing. A park full of things to do even if you don't have a match ticket.

Arthur Ashe Stadium

I sat a few rows behind Barbra Streisand during an Agassi match. That was fun.

He had hair back then


I don't follow tennis regularly so I don't know a lot about the sport or the players.

A friend does Breakfast at Wimbledon every year and we all get together wearing silk PJs; we drink a lot and talk about the player's form. Not their tennis form; their arms, shoulders and butts.

In addition to Agassi I love Serena Williams.

Fierce


I have tons of photos from all my UK trips. I have to get them out of the closet from hell and scanned so I can share them.

18 comments:

LL Cool Joe said...

When I was a student at uni I worked at Wimbledon Tennis club serving all the tennis stars food. It was great fun! I did it for 3 years.

jaycoles@gmail.com said...

I have never been to (or seen) a tennis match. Seems to me it is a sport for playing not watching. I suppose you had to have been there.. I have however seen Barbara, in concert at the Hollywood bowl.. Now that was exciting to me.

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

I would love to see Barbara Streisand!
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Ron said...

"I sat a few rows behind Barbra Streisand during an Agassi match. That was fun."

OH. MY. GOD!!!!!!!!!

There would be no way I could concentrate on the match if Babs was sitting a few rows in front of me. I would humming "People" and hoping she would turn around - HA!

A good friend of mine just recently moved to Wimbledon after she got married.

X ya, dear lady!

Ron said...

P.S. Can't wait to see more of your photos from the UK!

Sylvia K said...

Hey, I'm with Ron, look forward to seeing more of you "pics from the past"!!! What fun! Hope you guys are having a good week. Hugs to Hope and a big one to you, too!

Mike said...

I have a lifetime of photos waiting to be scanned.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

How Fun! Though I must say...I do not understand the scoring in Tennis, at all! It seems like another language to me....! But I LOVE Serena....!
And Barbara....I actually got to talk to her back when I was "marrying" people....She was at a Wedding at which I was The Officient....She was exactly as one would expect...!
Also got to see her "live" at The Cocoanut Grove in The Ambassador Hotel, (Now Gone...!), back in the mid 1960's...She Was Great and it was a small enough venue to be intimate...

It sounds like you don't miss that Corporation....lol....though there certainly were some lovely perks....!

Oh My. I have thousands of slides the need to be digitized....And some are really GREAT! Oh Well....time will tell...!

Pat said...

I love your idea of Breakfast at Wimbledon. Will have to seriously think about that!

bobbybegood1 said...

My sister (bless her soul) introduced me to tennis and yogart. I have loved tennis since - let's just say since the early 70's - OK! All I have to say about Serena - she is the BOMB! Great post. Cheers!!

Linda said...

It's been an awfully long time since I've smacked a fuzzy ball with a racquet (or any other device for that matter) and would probably put myself in the hospital were I to ever try playing tennis again but I would certainly love to go to England - Wimbledon or no Wimbledon!

And yes, I am old enough to remember the Bobby Riggs/Billie Jean King "Battle of the Sexes" just in case anyone's wondering! Can you imagine Riggs trying to play against Serena? Yikes!!

Ivanhoe said...

Not a big tennis fan, but I'm all for a b-fast at Wimbledon. In pj's of course. Hahaha!
Hugs from Ohio,
I.

HermanTurnip said...

It's cool seeing the evolution of the tennis arena! And I remember when Agassi was the man, forever changing the clothes tennis players wore...

...and now he's bald. Ah well.

Daryl said...

tennis, along with hockey, okay along with most sports leaves me going .. uh

I'm With Stupid said...

Tennis isn't the game it used to be. After the Williams sisters retire it will be no more interesting than golf. Just a bunch of corporate drones with no personality out there playing for the money.

Jay

Lowell said...

The last time I tried to play tennis, I tripped, fell backward, hit my head and knocked myself out. Thought I'd died. Not going to play tennis anymore - that's a young person's sport. Here they play a lot of pickleball which is like tennis but uses a smaller ball and the courts are smaller.

Glad to hear you appreciate the finer points of the male anatomy!

Hilary said...

Like Daryl, I'm not much of a sports fan but it sure is fun to see photos that take us back to those days. I look forward to more.

Marg said...

Oh I am such a huge tennis fan. I have watched it for so many years and have loved every minute of it.I do miss some of the older guys and gals. Like Andre and his wife. Anyway, it is fun to remember all the years. Lucky you got to go to some of the matches.