Upclose and Personal!

In a small venue you can

really get up close and personal.

Blake did not

play with the

girls but he

was getting

ready for the

men's section

starting the

following week. Bartoli

made it to the

semis.

Look who's watching. Yes it

was hot hot hot.

I think the heat contributed to the

empty stands. The stars were all there

except for the Williams' but that did not

bother me. You really get a sense of how

hard they can hit the ball.

Petrova got ousted but played some

doubles. Here we have the Russians

Azarenka and Kribilenka.

Cute Anna

Ivanovich

is from Serbia

and she also

made it to

the semis.

Here is Jankovich who was yanked

out of the tournament by Amanmurodova

a somewhat masculine player from

Ubekistan

Above is the gracious super "Mom"

Kim Cljisters being interviewed.

She beat Penneta the scrappy Italian

player who was asked to pose with a

fan and who graciously complied.

This is Wickmayer from Belgium who

was doing a ball drill just outside the

player's lounge which is a good place

to hang out if you want to see the stars

come and go. I think this will be now and

annual event for me. By the way spell check cannot get these Russian names right so please

excuse me if I have some errors here. I am

too lazy to look them up. Besides I have to

go watch the semis on TV.