Tuesday, November 15, 2005 Wednesday, November 16, 2005 This is a busy day. I slept late, because I got to bed late, and though I missed the shopping tour. But I discovered it was postponed until Wednesday (which ended up not being a good thing since I overslept on that day, too). The ESPN crew was on the bus again, and they commiserated with me about Rafa pulling out. We were trying to figure out who would play if someone else drops out. I figured they could pull someone from the doubles draw -- perhaps draw straws. They thought that was a good idea, and thought perhaps Bob and Mike Bryan together may have a shot against Federer. ;-) The guys were only doing one match, and they invited me to have dinner with them after the tennis. I was so pleased, because I don't know anyone here, and it's nice to feel part of a group. And these guys are very entertaining. I got to the tennis, as I wanted to take photos of Rafa's autograph signing. About 10 minutes before the event, I strolled over to the retail area, figuring there would be a line of people, and that I'd just stand to the side, and take a few photos of Rafa. Boy, was I naive. I got out there, and there was a line, of hundreds of fans. It snaked way outside the tent. They had roped off the area where Rafa was to sit, and cleared a path to get him there. The path was lined by police officers. I couldn't even see the place where Rafa was to sit. I saw a Swedish journalist in the restricted area, and I asked how he got in there. He said he just used his credential. I figured it was worth a shot, and I went to one of the guards and showed him my credential. He looked very doubtful, but since I don't speak Chinese, he gave me the benefit of the doubt. Which upset the Chinese media, because he wasn't allowing them in. But anyway, mission accomplished. Unfortunately, my camera battery chose that moment to die. But I need not have worried, there were about 100 photographers hanging around to snap pictures of him. I met a young Chinese journalist, who is a huge Rafa fan. She offered to take photos and send them to me. So I gave her and her friend two Vamos Rafael bands. She also showed me this terrific calendar she had picked up. It has a different player for each month, but the photo of Rafa is lovely. She showed me where to get one, so I have that as a souvenir. Well, Rafa came in, and I have never seen anything like this. He was flanked by a bunch of security guards, and literally chased by photographers. They moved him very quickly, and fans tried to break through the barricade to get at him. Some of them succeeded, and were thrown out of the area. When he got to the booth, they had to drag photographers away from him. It was totally disorganized, but the Chinese are very good organizers, and they righted the situation in a bit. They set up two lines of police, with a path in between. As fans approached Rafa, they were allowed to put down their item to be signed, immediately pick it up and keep moving. If they stopped, they were pulled away by the officers. It was like an assembly line. Rafa seemed to be in pretty good spirits, though. He laughed and joked a few times. After 20 minutes, they had to stop the line. I knew there was no way he could sign for all those people. But unfortunately, they stopped the line in a place where the fans could see Rafa. The people at the front of that line were so upset. The girls started crying. One girl was so emotional. I felt badly for her and I gave her my VamosRafael wristband. She was confused, but hopefully it will help her disappointment. Anyway, when he was done, he stopped at the Indesit booth for a second, and then left the building. Once again, security was all around him, but the fans started to mob him and were screaming at him. They chased him back to the players' lounge, and I heard girls yelling "I love you, Rafa." There's no doubt Rafa's a star here. If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I would not have believed it. Rafa went on to do a chat, and he met with sponsors. We later heard that he left Shanghai around 10 p.m. Hopefully he'll be able to get some rest at home, and get himself physically and mentally prepared for next year. Vamos, Rafa! While I was at the autograph session, I met Neva, who had e-mailed me before I left for Shanghai. We chatted a bit and decided to get some dinner in the media dining room. I told her I was starving. Well, I quickly lost my appetite when I looked at the food. And I lost it even more when I tasted it. I can tell I've lost weight on this trip. It's definitely time for another McDonald's run. We decided to buy some chips and head over to see Felix and Dave at the ESPN trailer. That was fun. Today they showed me how they set up the broadcast to air the matches from Shanghai while the commentary is being done in Connecticut. While I was in the booth, they had Cliff Drysdale and Patrick McEnroe on speaker, as they were testing out promos for the coverage. It was really neat. The guys were all joking around, and Pat and Cliff were giving Felix a hard time for getting to go out for Chinese food every night. Pat suggested that they scrap some of the singles matches and broadcast the Bryans' doubles matches. Felix responded, "Spoken like the Davis Cup captain!" We left there and got to the stadium in time to see Federer vs. Ljubicic. In my view, this is the most interesting match-up left in the devastated draw. I picked Lube to win, and at first he really disappointed me. He didn't play well at all in the first set. But in the second set, it was though he and Fed had switches roles, and he broke Fed twice, to take the set. The third set was fairly even, until Fed broke Lube. I figured that would be the end of the match, but as Fed was serving for the match, he was broken himself. Both men were making uncharacteristic errors. But Luce was able to save three matchpoints. But it went to a tiebreak, which was thrilling for the fans. Lube played well, but Federer became typical Federer, and won the tiebreak. I think Lube has to be the unluckiest player on Tour these days. He is playing very well, but seems unable to find a way to win the big matches. After that, it was off to the shuttle bus, where I met up with the ESPN boys. I met them for dinner at the hotel, and had the Mayfair Rice, which Dave recommended. It was pretty good, but my tolerance for Chinese food is at an all-time low. Dave and Felix have been going there every night, so they are well known. They reminded me of Cliff and Norm at the Cheers bar. The strange thing is that they didn't have any chopsticks for me to eat the rice. Hello? Isn't this China??? There are chopsticks everywhere here. But instead they gave me a spoon!!! Felix and Dave like the girl band which was performing -- although their music is quite loud. It was much nicer when they took a break and you could talk without yelling at each other. They pointed out the camera crew (who is filming the matches), and also Fred Stolle (he's Sandon Stolle's Dad and he does commentary for Australian TV). They also pointed out the "professional girls" who were working the other side of the room. Perhaps that was a bit too much information to share. On the walls were Masters Cup posters. Rafa's photo is on most of them, and I thought that perhaps when the tournament is over I could get a couple of the posters. Felix said, "I'm sure they have a closetful of them around here." And sure enough, he asked, and this waiter went somewhere and got me one. Felix things we can get a few more later. We are good customers! They could be collector's items -- especially if Fed were to pull out, and then none of the players on the poster would be here. (Geez, Gaudio is getting killed by Davydenko.) One funny thing. I asked Felix and Dave about their hotel rooms. They like them, but Dave said, "The mattress is a little hard." A little? It's a cloth-covered board. Oh, I forgot about my big celebrity moment. Mimi published her interview with me in today's paper. When I got to the tennis, I checked into the media desk, and the woman there said "Susan?" I thought she looked at my credential, but she remembered from the article Mimi had done. She even gave me a copy of it. Mimi brought me a copy later, and then I saw on the Board that Veyonce had translated it. It's a very nice article, and I think Mimi for it. (There are a few factual inaccuracies, but it's mostly correct.) On a final note. The tournament organizers gave a press conference today to talk about the problems with the players dropping out. They have met with the ATP, and have come up with some things to make it up to the fans. First, they readily acknowledge that Chinese fans are more into celebrity and less into tennis itself -- it's an evolving sport in this country. And that the loss of the celebrities has adversely impacted the event. They want to make it up to the fans. They have reached these agreements: 1. People who purchased tickets this year will be able to purchase the same tickets for next year at a 40% discount. 2. The price of the tickets will not be raised for next year. 3. The ATP will arrange for some of the top players to come to Shanghai in the next 3 to 6 months to meet with sponsors and organizers, and to promote the event. posted by Susan @ 3:16 AM