February Madness - Dubai ATP Tennis 2014

We all have those times in our lives when it seems things can't be crazier.... or times when it's nice and relaxed. Well, February is one of those "CRAZY" times. Actually, these last months since November seems like it's been non-stop and I can't remember the day (okay, fine, ONE DAY, which was New Years day) when I could sit around and relax. I used to get annoyed when people used to say "OMG, I am just soooo busy! (imagine being said in a valley accent)." I used to think, "come on, really? Can you really be THAT busy?" And lo and behold, I've become one of those people. Although it's been one thing after another, the good news is, things are going well and besides mild increase in BP, most things have worked out - especially the fun things!!!

I had the marathon, which was WELL described, he he, then was the Oman Wadi Bih weekend 2 weeks later and then came RAK 1/2 marathon a week after that. THEN just a week after that came the Dubai Duty Free WTA/ATP Tennis tournament! Soo as my company is providing the medical coverage for this event, I am full steam ahead to maximize the VIP pass and my time here. 

Besides the tournament itself, last year the head ATP physio and our team were interested in him doing a Course or Seminar-type thing, so looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong story short (really, don't want to go through the boring details), but I pretty much was in charge of organizing it, which became a wee bit stressful, but alas, the point is that it all turned out GREAT and I was super pleased and everyone was happy - learned a lot of practical things I can do with my patients. 

After that came the time of of fun - part of the perks of being involved is we get these Badges that pretty much gives us passes everywhere. So although we are involved with the ATP, I could still use the pass to access the stadium, VIP places, and everything in between.

Sooooooooooooooooooo, now comes the fun part:

Night One that I was there: TEAM SERBIA - I met Jelena Jankovic!!!!!

Night Two: TEAM USA - I met Venus Williams, who had JUST WON THE TOURNAMENT! She is 2014 Dubai WTA CHAMPION!!!!

Although it's a repeat of what happened with me and Novak Djokovic a couple of years ago that I didn't have the flash on from the camera because I had turned it off for the match, alas, the picture is there and although it's an awful picture of me, it's me and VENUS!!!! BTW, SUPER nice and friendly! Despite the camera issues (do I ever learn!).

Sooooooooooooo.... now it's the ATP Men's Tennis. Got some some good snaps so far, hopefully more to come!! 

And yes, that is Roger Federer!!!

Top 10 seed Jo-Wildred Tsonga (French)

Novak Djokovic after his win earlier in the tournament

THEN, da da dum, caught Novak!!! It's hard to know when to get these snaps, before matches it's obviously not appropriate, after they are busy and usually don't go by the training room, etc etc. So I found the best time is when the just come in before or after a practice, when they are relaxed. And ta daaaaaa, it worked! I just happen to trust my gut instinct and instead of meeting a friend that was somewhere around the stadium, I just thought, "let me just pass by the Training room." I came in, and the 1st person I see is Novak's physio. Yesssssssssssssss! So I approached him and said in Serbian (hehe), hi and how I remembered him from last year, blah blah. He obviously is easy-going and even remembered me and we had a good 5-10 min conversation. Novak was around the corner in another room, but since there was no one around, he definitely heard by bad American-Serbian and our conversation. Then I casually popped in the room to pretend to look for something, made eye contact, he he, so now he could place the bad Serbian with a face, and then went out of the room and was casually just hanging around. Then after he got treatment, I suddenly just happened to be 'right there' and fortunately, since i got in with the Trainer, I asked Novak just before he was about to leave (hehe) in Serbian if I could get a pic with him, and then the trainer said "ah ha! That's Jelena (hehe) from Chicago." I was more than happy to just take the snap then and there, but Novak was the one who suggested taking it outside for a better view, ha!! And then I think I was so nervous and excited, I said something about how I wanted to show this to my Chicago Serbian friends... or something like that. I got tongue tied! So there you have it! I can sleep easy now and relax! Was sooooo excited and happy after this pic! :-) 

Now I'm getting a big head and want to try and get a pic with Boris Becker, Novak's coach (who, BTW, I saw at dinner but lost the opportunity to take a pic, d'oh!) and more of a challenge, Czech Tomas Berdych, whom I haven't seen at all. But if that doesn't happen, I'm pretty happy with what I have! hehehe! 

Here are some more random tennis snaps I took, including the Federer vs Novak semi-final (definitely the BEST match of the whole tournament) where I happen to get "Premium" seating in the 2nd row!! And from afar, saw the finals of Federer vs. Berdych:

Above and below: Tomas Berdych - Czech player. Lost against Federer in the finals, but here he is quite happy to win in the semi's!

Venus Williams - WINNER of  WTA woman's and was still smiling when I got a snap with her :-) 

Daniel Nestor (Canada) and Serbian Nenad Zimonijic (who, by the way, I have treated him the last couple of years and he is very nice and friendly!). Yay Serbia! They got 2nd.

And the winners of the ATP Dubai finals, Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi! An Indian and Pakistan duo that.. I have to say, were probably the nicest people I met in the whole tournament. SUPER SUPER easy to talk to, easy-going, VERY grateful for treatment, always thanked me, and just wonderful people so I am very happy they won - well deserved!!! 

Too funny, there was  RAIN delay! I would say more like "drizzle" delay, but it was quite in the heat of the moment and super bizarre that out of nowhere, unexpectedly, we got this drizzle! I think they Roger and Novak were happy for the break, and us spectators were just amused by it! Especially that since it RARELY rains here, no one really knew what to do - they even got towels to wipe the surface, ha ha.

Boris Becker!!! Wearing all black at the end. Awesome! He's now the coach of Novak. Had a brief opportunity to take a snap with him, but it passed :-(

Above and below: Federer - his 1st win after 9 months! They were joking because his wife is pregnant with their 3rd child and every time she has been pregnant, he has had a particularly good season. He wins this and the finals!

The BEST duo of this generation!!!

Federer WINS Dubai ATP Duty Free 2014 Tennis!!!!

Now I think I said this last year, but for real this time, this year my company completed the 3 year contract with the ATP Dubai Tennis Classic. Sooo... sadly, I put away my VIP badge and will now be joining the "common" people (hahah, a JOKE!) at the Irish Village watching the matches from the pub next year. I have to say, this whole experience was probably one of the highlights of my whole time in Dubai and will continue to be until I leave. I would NEVER get this opportunity in the States, so am FOREVER grateful to have had it!!!! I am soo fortunate and lucky and I'll look back at these pictures and reminisce being RIGHT THERE and enjoying it to the fullest!!!!