The Never-Ending Ramblings...

A Sunday Afternoon Fish Fry

This past Sunday, I covered the Atlanta Tennis Championships, an ATP event, for Tennis Life – yay me. No pay, but tons of fun, and five awesome by lines.

Mardy Fish cooked John Isner under an on-court, heat-indexed sun of 155 degrees --no lies --about the heat, I mean. During the match, and I can’t pinpoint when, an enthused fan yelled Mardy’s name while Isner served. “Let,” the chair called. Fans booed. Isner regained composure. Seriously? During a serve? C’mon.

After the three-setter, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), and the trophy ceremony, tournament staff directed us to exit via a different route than usual. Somehow, I found myself in the direct path players take to get back to their lounge. Some guy, wearing K-Swiss clothing, carring a Wilson bag over his shoulder, gripping two Wilson racquets in hand, walked toward me. Insert schoolgirl squeal cuz at first glance I thought it was Mardy...all those K-Swiss clothes...

I snapped a few quick pics(see below). He flashed me a wide smile. Heck yea! Okay, so maybe it wasn't so wide...and maybe it was directed at the camera, not me...who cares? I got it on digital.

Once I actually realized my feet walked on off-limits territory, I scurried toward the media room. I dumped my cam, notepad, and other reporting essentials down on my desk, which, by the way, awesomely overlooked the player’s lounge. Yes, this means I did get peeks at hottie ATP guys, shirtless.

Drew, one of my desk mates, using a sarcastic tone says, “I can’t believe you called out Mardy’s name like that.” The guy behind him nods in agreement. Then Drew adds, “and how did you get your voice to change to a man’s like that?”

I let my body go limp. “Oh great,” I moan, my words smothered in disappointment. “Do you think this means I blew my chances of a one-on-one with Mardy?”

Author's note: Drew, the photographer, got pics of the guy who interrupted the match by yelling out, "Mardy" during Isner's serve.

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For more on the actual event, visit

http://www.tennislife.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=406:atlan...

Unidentified Guy