Post by Annie on Jun 14, 2004 23:47:14 GMT 3
Wasn't sure which forum to post this report in, since it's not really Marat-related, but it's a tournament report...oh who cares, Ruth? 
Liverpool International Tennis Tournament 2004
Well, it's been a long, long week so I'm going to try and write a short, short report
For those of you who aren't aware of the Liverpool tournament (and there's probably lots!) it's a small grass tournament, held in a public park (Calderstones Park) in Liverpool, UK.
2004 is only the 3rd year of this tournament and is still growing, because the advantage of Liverpool over other grass pre-wimbledon tourneys, is the round-robin format. So all players are guaranteed at least 3 matches on grass before Wimbledon! Also, Marat was the very first winner of Liverpool back in 2002. There was a small chance he would play an exhibition match this year, but it never happened (possibly due to his visa problems, possibly because of his healing blisters...possibly because he just didn't want to *lol*)
Anyway, it was my second year working as media/website/reporter/general-dogsbody at Liverpool, and as always, it was one of the most exhausting weeks of the year. Fortunately, this year, we had some really interesting players ( and no divas
) and everyone agreed they were definitely the friendliest bunch of players at Liverpool so far. From a Marat-fan perspective, Ivan Ljubicic & Irakli Labadze got my attention because they've known Marat since the junior circuit. But as people in their own right, they're absolutely lovely! For so long they've just been 'that Croatian' and 'Marat's doubles partner' to me, so to see them in 'reality' and as individuals was fantastic.
Irakli reminds me very much of Marat (although not as handsome) I nicknamed him 'Marat's younger brother' (amongst other things.... *hehehe* Denise) They use the exact same expressions on court, including 'I CANNOT BELIEVE!', the same shrug with outstretched arms, racket bouncing, the same strut when they're playing well, the same moaning at the umpire long after the point has been called....I could go on!
Irakli has such a good sense of humour too; he's very playful. For his first match, there was an old lady sitting behind me (about 60-65 years old I guess) and she said to me 'Oh, that Irakli is such a handsome man! He's absolutely gorgeous, he's stolen my heart! I've bought tickets for the whole week just so I can see him again!' It was so cute.
Later that evening, Denise & I were having a drink in the hotel and deciding where to eat. The players were arriving for a private players-only dinner with the tournament director. First to arrive was Lukas (Irakli's coach from Austria - Irakli is now based in Vienna - Lukas reminds me of Lee Ryan from boyband 'Blue') Anyway, as we were talking, I told him about 'Irakli's girlfriend' and Lukas was laughing, saying 'Oh, you have to tell him! You must! He will love it!'
Next to arrive was Ivan Ljubicic and he automatically came and sat with us. He's such a gentleman; very quiet and a little bit shy but a dry sense of humour and a twinkle in his eye. Lukas told me to tell Ivan the 'girlfriend' story. Ivan loved it and asked me 'what did she look like?' I said 'Lets just say she had very thick glasses' He burst out laughing and said 'Oh, that's perfect for Irakli. That's the best he can hope for with a face like his!'
Finally Irakli arrived and Ivan grabbed him; "You've got a fan!" and pointed at me. Irakli raised his eyebrows and I said 'Mm-hmm. She's 65." Ivan was giggling like schoolboy and Lukas was watching Irakli, trying not to laugh. Irakli looked really serious and said; 'Oh?' Ivan & Lukas were like 'Tell him ! Tell him!' So I told Irakli all about the lady who's heart he had stolen. Ivan said 'Oh man, you're gonna get lucky this week!' Irakli paused, took a deep breath and said; 'Well, it's my birthday today, and you've gotta try everything once....." Everyone burst out laughing... *ahem*....it was funnier in real-life....not quite the same written down....
At one of the many evening dinner/party things, Denise was sitting with all the players (I wasn't there that night) and they were on the subject of Marat (I wonder how they managed that, eh Denise?) Irakli said 'Why is he playing Halle? No-one bothers with Halle anymore, it's dead. He should be here.' And then they started talking about Queens. Oh man, none of the players had anything good to say about it and I started to understand why Marat avoids it.
Irakli was doing killer impressions of the officials at Queens, putting on a posh english accent (which is pretty good for a Georgian!) and saying things like 'Oh, I say, what are you doing? You have to follow me, young man. I've been at this club for 576 years so do what I say....' Basically, the general concensus was the attitude at Queens is so bad towards anyone who isn't Agassi/Henman/Hewitt/Sampras. Queens is just too old-fashioned and most 'ordinary' players are made to feel out-of-place and uncomfortable.
That's why they were enjoying Liverpool so much, because events had been organised for them so they could see Liverpool and socialise with each other. I think it was Barry Cowan who was saying it's so rare for players to socialise with each other in evenings, because it's too difficult to arrange in advance and they don't know the local area. All the players were saying how much they had enjoyed the evenings out, although I think there were too many planned for one week and by Thursday, players were leaving the parties by 10pm or not going at all.
OK, what else can I tell you? Well, Robert Kendrick (an American Beckham look-alike) was here again this year and he was funny too. All the girls were falling all over him which made me smile. (He's very handsome, but not really my type.) Robert had an army of young school-girls cheering at every match, which I nicknamed the 'Ken Dolls', but he also had quite a large male following, of school boys who thought this blond American was incredibly cool.
Now, I have to explain that the Liverpool accent is called 'Scouse' and is very distinctive, because it is a combination of harsh Irish and Welsh accents. (There's a lot of 'kh' used....that gutteral hacking noise - and all 'r' s are rolled ) So Kendrick is pronounced 'Kend-rrr-i-KKKH' (ok, that's the nearest I can do written down) and Robert was totally bemused by this pronunciation of his surname. I was out by the press office and he came past with a gaggle of Liverpudlian schoolboys (as always) shouting 'Kend-rrr-i-KKKH!!! Kend-rrr-i-KKKH!! Gis us y' aut-a-grrrrrrrra-fffff, maycht!' (Translation: Kendrick, Kendrick, please give us your autograph, mate.) I was laughing at Robert who was attempting to impersonate the accent, and doing a decent job and he shouted across to me (in the accent); 'Why does everyone here talk like this? Why do they all say 'Kend-rrr-i-KKKH
' I was too busy laughing and the kids were too noisey for me to reply, but he just kept shrugging his shoulders with a big grin on his face as if to say 'me no speakee english' *lol* Finally he gave in and signed everything for the boys - he was really good with all the kids.
He even sat with us for breakfast one morning and was telling me about how he broke his thumb in his first match at Wimbledon last year - ouch! We had to share a car with him to get to the stadium (tough life!) and he was telling us all about how car-sick he gets, and how he'd been taken for a photo shoot the previous day and was close to throwing up on arrival, which would have looked great on the photos. (Nice topic of conversation, eh?)
Because me and Denise had our laptops with us and internet connections were provided, a few of the players came and asked if they could check their emails on our computers. So I took Ramon Delgado up to the press office (which was a glorified garden shed) and he has the cutest accent - just like Guga! It's so weird, this tall dark & handsome Paraguyan talking in a quiet little Guga-esque voice.
And what was he talking about? ... Food!! What is it with tennis players and their appetites?! I'd mentioned that me and Denise hadn't eaten yet and they were no longer serving food, so we were starving. he was like 'oh that's terrible! And the food was great...really great today.' I'm like 'oh, thanks....' So he grinned and said; "well, you should come down tomorrow [to the players area], come and see us, and don't miss the food tomorrow cos I can't save you any and it's really good.' (probably can't save it because he knows he's
eat it *lol*!)
Liverpool International Tennis Tournament 2004
Well, it's been a long, long week so I'm going to try and write a short, short report
For those of you who aren't aware of the Liverpool tournament (and there's probably lots!) it's a small grass tournament, held in a public park (Calderstones Park) in Liverpool, UK. 2004 is only the 3rd year of this tournament and is still growing, because the advantage of Liverpool over other grass pre-wimbledon tourneys, is the round-robin format. So all players are guaranteed at least 3 matches on grass before Wimbledon! Also, Marat was the very first winner of Liverpool back in 2002. There was a small chance he would play an exhibition match this year, but it never happened (possibly due to his visa problems, possibly because of his healing blisters...possibly because he just didn't want to *lol*)
Anyway, it was my second year working as media/website/reporter/general-dogsbody at Liverpool, and as always, it was one of the most exhausting weeks of the year. Fortunately, this year, we had some really interesting players ( and no divas
) and everyone agreed they were definitely the friendliest bunch of players at Liverpool so far. From a Marat-fan perspective, Ivan Ljubicic & Irakli Labadze got my attention because they've known Marat since the junior circuit. But as people in their own right, they're absolutely lovely! For so long they've just been 'that Croatian' and 'Marat's doubles partner' to me, so to see them in 'reality' and as individuals was fantastic. Irakli reminds me very much of Marat (although not as handsome) I nicknamed him 'Marat's younger brother' (amongst other things.... *hehehe* Denise
) They use the exact same expressions on court, including 'I CANNOT BELIEVE!', the same shrug with outstretched arms, racket bouncing, the same strut when they're playing well, the same moaning at the umpire long after the point has been called....I could go on! Irakli has such a good sense of humour too; he's very playful. For his first match, there was an old lady sitting behind me (about 60-65 years old I guess) and she said to me 'Oh, that Irakli is such a handsome man! He's absolutely gorgeous, he's stolen my heart! I've bought tickets for the whole week just so I can see him again!' It was so cute.
Later that evening, Denise & I were having a drink in the hotel and deciding where to eat. The players were arriving for a private players-only dinner with the tournament director. First to arrive was Lukas (Irakli's coach from Austria - Irakli is now based in Vienna - Lukas reminds me of Lee Ryan from boyband 'Blue') Anyway, as we were talking, I told him about 'Irakli's girlfriend' and Lukas was laughing, saying 'Oh, you have to tell him! You must! He will love it!'
Next to arrive was Ivan Ljubicic and he automatically came and sat with us. He's such a gentleman; very quiet and a little bit shy but a dry sense of humour and a twinkle in his eye. Lukas told me to tell Ivan the 'girlfriend' story. Ivan loved it and asked me 'what did she look like?' I said 'Lets just say she had very thick glasses' He burst out laughing and said 'Oh, that's perfect for Irakli. That's the best he can hope for with a face like his!'
Finally Irakli arrived and Ivan grabbed him; "You've got a fan!" and pointed at me. Irakli raised his eyebrows and I said 'Mm-hmm. She's 65." Ivan was giggling like schoolboy and Lukas was watching Irakli, trying not to laugh. Irakli looked really serious and said; 'Oh?' Ivan & Lukas were like 'Tell him ! Tell him!' So I told Irakli all about the lady who's heart he had stolen. Ivan said 'Oh man, you're gonna get lucky this week!' Irakli paused, took a deep breath and said; 'Well, it's my birthday today, and you've gotta try everything once....." Everyone burst out laughing... *ahem*....it was funnier in real-life....not quite the same written down....
At one of the many evening dinner/party things, Denise was sitting with all the players (I wasn't there that night) and they were on the subject of Marat (I wonder how they managed that, eh Denise?) Irakli said 'Why is he playing Halle? No-one bothers with Halle anymore, it's dead. He should be here.' And then they started talking about Queens. Oh man, none of the players had anything good to say about it and I started to understand why Marat avoids it.
Irakli was doing killer impressions of the officials at Queens, putting on a posh english accent (which is pretty good for a Georgian!) and saying things like 'Oh, I say, what are you doing? You have to follow me, young man. I've been at this club for 576 years so do what I say....' Basically, the general concensus was the attitude at Queens is so bad towards anyone who isn't Agassi/Henman/Hewitt/Sampras. Queens is just too old-fashioned and most 'ordinary' players are made to feel out-of-place and uncomfortable.
That's why they were enjoying Liverpool so much, because events had been organised for them so they could see Liverpool and socialise with each other. I think it was Barry Cowan who was saying it's so rare for players to socialise with each other in evenings, because it's too difficult to arrange in advance and they don't know the local area. All the players were saying how much they had enjoyed the evenings out, although I think there were too many planned for one week and by Thursday, players were leaving the parties by 10pm or not going at all.
OK, what else can I tell you? Well, Robert Kendrick (an American Beckham look-alike) was here again this year and he was funny too. All the girls were falling all over him which made me smile. (He's very handsome, but not really my type.) Robert had an army of young school-girls cheering at every match, which I nicknamed the 'Ken Dolls', but he also had quite a large male following, of school boys who thought this blond American was incredibly cool.
Now, I have to explain that the Liverpool accent is called 'Scouse' and is very distinctive, because it is a combination of harsh Irish and Welsh accents. (There's a lot of 'kh' used....that gutteral hacking noise - and all 'r' s are rolled ) So Kendrick is pronounced 'Kend-rrr-i-KKKH' (ok, that's the nearest I can do written down) and Robert was totally bemused by this pronunciation of his surname. I was out by the press office and he came past with a gaggle of Liverpudlian schoolboys (as always) shouting 'Kend-rrr-i-KKKH!!! Kend-rrr-i-KKKH!! Gis us y' aut-a-grrrrrrrra-fffff, maycht!' (Translation: Kendrick, Kendrick, please give us your autograph, mate.) I was laughing at Robert who was attempting to impersonate the accent, and doing a decent job and he shouted across to me (in the accent); 'Why does everyone here talk like this? Why do they all say 'Kend-rrr-i-KKKH
' I was too busy laughing and the kids were too noisey for me to reply, but he just kept shrugging his shoulders with a big grin on his face as if to say 'me no speakee english' *lol* Finally he gave in and signed everything for the boys - he was really good with all the kids. He even sat with us for breakfast one morning and was telling me about how he broke his thumb in his first match at Wimbledon last year - ouch! We had to share a car with him to get to the stadium (tough life!) and he was telling us all about how car-sick he gets, and how he'd been taken for a photo shoot the previous day and was close to throwing up on arrival, which would have looked great on the photos. (Nice topic of conversation, eh?)
Because me and Denise had our laptops with us and internet connections were provided, a few of the players came and asked if they could check their emails on our computers. So I took Ramon Delgado up to the press office (which was a glorified garden shed) and he has the cutest accent - just like Guga! It's so weird, this tall dark & handsome Paraguyan talking in a quiet little Guga-esque voice.
And what was he talking about? ... Food!! What is it with tennis players and their appetites?! I'd mentioned that me and Denise hadn't eaten yet and they were no longer serving food, so we were starving. he was like 'oh that's terrible! And the food was great...really great today.' I'm like 'oh, thanks....' So he grinned and said; "well, you should come down tomorrow [to the players area], come and see us, and don't miss the food tomorrow cos I can't save you any and it's really good.' (probably can't save it because he knows he's
eat it *lol*!)
Glad you had great time at the tourney! BTW did you or Denise also write the match reports on the tourney website? They were fun to read too! 
....... 