Steve:

Most people, upon entering the grounds head to the main show courts where the name players will be playing. Not me. I head to the side courts where one never knows who you will see, what exciting match will occur. Here are some of my more recent experiences.

Some years ago, I headed to the furthest side court at the US Open. The match was between Stan Warwinka and someone I cannot recall. I watched for about an hour and then moved on. About 2 hours later I looked at the scoreboard and Stan was still playing. I headed back to the court to watch the finish which went on for almost 5 hours – a typical Stan match. He won, but did not expect to hear from him again. Except for his grit and determination, I did not think much of his game. Shows you how much I know. Last I looked his is the single champion of the French Open!

Another first round match I caught was between Vaidisova and Jankovic. Vaidisova was the slight favorite, but Jankovic just would not quit and pulled out a victory. I became a big fan of hers and actually met her at Wimbledon last year.

**This was right before the tournament started and she went on to lose in the first round. How I wasn't a jinx!**

I have always liked to watch Gasquet play. He has a beautiful game with a classic one hand backhand. Last year at Wimbledon I went to see him play an unknown, to me, Krygious. Again what is unique about the side courts is that you never know what upcoming star will show up and what memorable match will occur. This was one of them. There was a small but very vocal Aussie group which added to the drams and excitement. It lasted for hours and Gasquet had 9 match points but Krygious pulled it out. He went on to defeat Nadal in the next match and is now an established star.