My Experience at Citi Open Qualies

DAY 1

I began the journey to Washington D.C. from Virginia Beach early Saturday morning, making the trip in personal record time (slightly under 3 hours). After a bit of confusion, I was able to locate a parking garage and the shuttle system for the Citi Open, making the final leg of the trip relaxing for me. As you arrived at the complex on the shuttle, you could see the practice courts filled with players in the qualifying draw with their high expectations, hoping to fight their way through to the main draw.

When you walk onto the grounds of the Rock Creek Park tennis center, the Stadium Court and practice courts are to your left with vendors, tables, trees, and various other tents set up in front of you. So as I turn to my left to check out who is practicing before play began, I see James Ward walking with two other members of his team walking towards me. Instinctively I call out "Good luck, James!" and he gives me an acknowledging head nod and thank you. While I was ecstatic to see a relatively well known player and have him notice me, I was unaware at the time that this would be the least enthusiastic interaction I would have with a tennis player during the weekend.

As I continued my trek around the grounds, I stopped to watch Alex and Mischa Zverev practicing together on Grandstand 1, Tommy Haas practicing on the Stadium Court, Coco Vandeweghe and Sloane Stephens practicing together on an unused match court, and Daniel Nestor hitting on one of the practice courts. As I'm watching the lanky Canadian get some reps in, Ryan Harrison walks up to watch and begins asking when Nestor's half-volley clinic will be. The two continued their light-hearted discussion for a few minutes before Ryan broke away and began walking towards me, and I wasn't going to miss out on this opportunity. I shook hands with him and wished him luck in the tournament, as we engaged in conversation for a few seconds before he had to get on his way.

(Matija Pecotic and JP Smith getting ready for their match.)

I then began to settle down as play was getting ready to begin. I headed over to Match Court 2 to watch some of Matija Pecotic and JP Smith opening up play on Day 1. As I made my walk to the court, I noticed a familiar face sitting on a bench near Grandstand 2 (which is directly between Match Court 1 and Match Court 2). At first glance I thought it was Radek Stepanek, but I then realized that it was Ivan Dodig taking a few seconds to relax and get himself together before taking on Liam Broady in just a few minutes. I walked up to him and just shook his hand and wished him luck, and he kindly responded with a smile and a thank you. What a nice man. As I took my seat on Match Court 2, Sekou Bangoura was finishing up his practice, but unfortunately for me I had no clue at that moment in time what Bangoura looked like, and that he was even in DC to begin with (this was before it was announced that he took Rajeev Ram's spot in the draw after Ram pulled out with an injury).

I watched the entirety of the first set between Smith and Pecotic (nothing too exciting), before heading over to a seat on Grandstand 2 that gave me viewing access to Dodig-Broady and Zverev-Edmund, the match going on behind me. I watched Dodig and Broady split sets and Zverev roll over Edmund before walking around the grounds some more, catching glimpses of Austin Krajicek, Kei Nishikori, Leonardo Mayer, and Andy Murray practicing. Needless to say, the largest crowd was on Murray's court as it was extremely difficult to find a good view of his practice. I then headed back over to Grandstand 2 to watch the end of Dodig-Broady and the beginning of Quigley-Sugita. Dodig and Broady both played a very high-level of tennis in the 3rd set, creating an exciting end that was only to become anti-climactic, due to a controversial call on match point, giving Ivan Dodig the win on an ace.

(Andy Murray hitting a backhand in practice in front of a large crowd.)

After the Dodig win, I went back to Match Court 2 to watch Eric Quigley out-fight Yuichi Sugita in a very entertaining match. Quigley, after winning the 1st set, looked like he would cruise to the win at 5-3 in the 2nd, but Sugita was able to win 4 games on the trot, forcing a decider. Quigley fought hard, though, continuing to make his shots and stick to his game plan, allowing himself to keep his composure and grab the 3rd set for the win. After the match, Eric took a few minutes to get off the court as he was greeted by fans asking for autographs and taking pictures, as well as a few of his friends talking to him and congratulating him. I managed to work a few seconds in with him, giving him a hand shake, congratulating him, and wishing him luck in the next round. 

(Eric Quigley taking a photo with some excited fans after his win.)

I then closed out Day 1 by heading over to Grandstand 1 and watching Ryan Harrison take on Guilherme Clezar. I managed to catch the end of the 2nd set, which was very tight up until the tiebreak, which Clezar was able to run away with. Ryan, though, asserted himself in the 3rd set, not allowing Clezar to have any success. Ryan breezed through the 3rd set to grab the win, and as he walked off the court and back to the locker room, I was able to shake hands with and congratulate him on the win. 

(Ryan Harrison shaking my hand after his win.)

Day 1 was a truly amazing experience to me, and I was only halfway done with my weekend at the Citi Open.

DAY 2

Day 2 saw more of the same from Day 1, watching the stars practice and the lower-ranked guys try to fight their way into the main draw. The day started with watching Eric Quigley practicing with Jesse Witten on the Stadium Court, followed by Mischa and Alex Zverev after them. I walked around the grounds a little bit before play started, running into Ryan Harrison (who acknowledged me first). I then also saw and spoke to Rajeev Ram for a few seconds, congratulating on his recent run of form and wishing him luck in the doubles draw. 

(Eric Quigley hitting with Jesse Witten before play begins on Day 2.)

I headed back to the Stadium Court and watch Eric Qugley begin his Final Round Qualifying match with Guido Pella at 10am, getting play started on Day 2. Eric fought extremely well and didn't play a bad match, but Pella played a near perfect match and was able to use his experience and steady game to take out Eric. There should be no shame in losing that match, and I wish Eric the best of luck throughout the rest of the summer and beyond. This match was followed by Ryan Harrison taking on Mischa Zverev in a very high quality match. Ryan looked to struggle with the serve and volley strategy of Zverev, but once he figured it out he was able to breeze to a 1st set win. The 2nd set was much tighter, seeing a couple breaks by each man. Ryan was able to stay tough, though, winning the match in a 2nd set tiebreak and seeing his way through to the main draw.

After the match I had to grab some lunch, getting a slice of pepperoni pizza that was twice the size of my head. As I was eating my lunch I decided to camp outside of the player's locker room, waiting to congratulate Ryan Harrison again. Before Ryan came out, though, Eric Quigley came out and started walking the opposite direction of where I was standing. I had to put a little pep in my step to catch up to him, but it was worth it. We chatted for a few minutes, discussing his play during the weekend and his plans for the summer before I let him go. Eric could not have been any more of a nicer guy to me. He's not only of the nicest tennis players I've met, he's one of the nice people in general that I've met.

I caught up with Ryan Harrison a few minutes later, giving him a congratulatory fist bump. It seemed like he was in a bit of a rush though, so there wasn't much conversation there. I then headed over to one of the tents set up outside of the stadium in which people could measure the speed of their serve, and if their serve was a high enough speed based on their age and gender, money would be donated to the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation in their name. For my age group, I had to hit at least 90mph. I came up clutch, hitting 92mph, although I'm convinced it was a slow gun. I was pumping at least triple digits....ok fine, I'll take 92.

The last thing I did at the Citi Open was entirely a spur of the moment thing. I was walking out of the grounds when I stopped to watch Donald Young practice. No more than 10 seconds later did Darian King, who made it through qualies to make the main draw, walk up next to me to watch Donald also. Darian had one of the most enthusiastic reactions to me, as he shook my hand with one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen.

 

(Donald Young getting ready to hit a backhand in practice.)

Throughout the weekend I also saw guys like Viktor Troicki, Mardy Fish, Jack Sock, Steve Johnson, Kevin Anderson, Grigor Dimitrov, Alex Dolgopolov, Go Soeda, Tim Smyczek, Lukas Lacko, Ben Becker, Ricardas Berankis, Ze Zhang, and Blaz Rola practicing.

Overall, I was amazed by how easy to was to access the players. They literally just walk around the grounds like the spectators do and you can walk up to and interact with them. This was my favorite part of the tournament, as it makes you feel like you belong with some of the highest ranked tennis players in the world.