LA Open semi and legends match
I took another exciting trip down to the LA Open to watch the semi-final match between Sam Querrey and Tommy Haas, and Legends match between Jim Courier and Michael Chang. Querrey had an entourage of fans in the stands that outnumbered the cheers for Haas. The most noticeable of fans were a group of topless men that sported “Sam” headbands, a mini-bongo drum that was beat during any challenge call, and letters painted on their bodies that spelled out “SAMURAI”. Their enthusiastic cheers brought energy to the stadium that fired Querrey up to take the win.
There have been arguments that the SAMURAI had “no class” and their actions were “obnoxious and inappropriate”. As a witness to the event, I must say I very much enjoyed their company. The shirtless approach may have been a bit much as tennis is still known as one of the less fanatic-intense sports. I also pondered if they would have allowed females in bikini tops replicating the same actions?
Nevertheless, Querrey’s game was on, and Tommy’s was not. The final score was 6-3, 7-5 moving onto the finals to beat Carsten Ball. Congrats to the 2009 LA Open Men’s Champion – Sam Querrey.
As for the Legends match between Jim Courier and Michael Chang, it was an amazingly entertaining one to watch. Sarcastic jokes, fancy shots, and crowd flirtations made this one of my favorite live matches of all time. The most exciting part of the match was when Courier called one of the ball boys over, handed him his stick and tennis balls, and proceeded into the corner to replace the ball boys position. The ball boy took Courier’s place to serve for the game of his life against Michael Chang. If you ever read this ball boy, I gave you a standing ovation! Anyway, Chang ended up taking the match in the third set (10 pt) tiebreaker. In all honestly I believed the way Courier was hitting he could’ve beaten Haas with his huge forehands and effective drop shots, and Chang probably would’ve made less unforced errors than Haas as well.
Overall, it was an amazing week for tennis and I was honored to watch the pros of my generation and the legends I grew up watching.
-
- Michael Chang
-
- My Johnny Mac impression
-
- Tommy Haas
-
- Jim Courier
-
- Ballboy 1; Chang 0
-
- My Pete impression
-
- I hit 90mph!! =)
-
- Sam Querrey
Peace Sign,
Kana
Jim Courier and Michael Chang Must have been fun to watch, 199something San Jose CA I watched them play and it was one of the greatest moments in sports I witnessed. All was quiet and Chang was serving and a “lady” in the crowed yelled out “Michael, your a wimp”. There was a quiet rumbling in the crowd as Michael stayed silent and focused on his serve.He hit a big serve up the middle on the line and he made and exaggerated stance and pointed to the area the lady was in and the crowd let out the biggest roar I have ever witnessed at a tennis match, then the lady humbly apologized. Anyway that is my fun Courier and Chang memory.
Cheers