Silly Little Country

Rogers Cup (women) - Day 1, Part 1

Well, Day 1 after the qualifying.
I decided, in my new 'time is cheap' mode to attend, perhaps not factoring in the effects on me of the heat which started a couple of days ago, and to which I exposed myself close to the edge (for me) on Saturday.
My objectives: one was to use the fact that it was early rounds and so many courts would be played, I could wander around, and see the actual embodiments of the players that so entertain me on TV; another was to see a couple of really fine matches, as probability suggested to me there would be, as there are so many matches in the first round. SillyWife and I, as I explained to a volunteer, have been regular attendees to this tournament from long before when Andre Agassi had Brooke Shields come along with him, but we have attended the quarter-finals only, for a long time afternoon and evening sessions, but for many years now, only afternoon sessions. I will blog some more about some of this later - there are interesting economic issues. I think I have miscalculated my utility functions.
But on to the day!
So I started off with a match between Ai Sugiyama (can I ask that you just Google them all and I not provide links?).
I have seen her play many times and remain impressed at her athleticism, though it is unclear to me her body weight is moving forward:

Those looking at the pictures closely and reading my blog equally closely will realize I have had a previous encounter with Ms. Benesova (Sharapova's somewhat unknown opponent).
Here she is today.

Now serving is not everything and I plan to post many more times on Day One, and in fact Sugiyama wins, though I find it amazing how hard that is to learn from the tournament Web site. More pictures to come!

posted by Alan Adamson @ 8:01 PM