Comments on: REPORT FROM NYC: HAPPY NADAL, CHATTY SERENA, FAR AWAY FEDERER

By: Mila

Mila — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:52:20 +0000

Rafa is the sweetest! And such a beauty, of couse… *.*
Thanks for posting!

By: JFK

JFK — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:16:34 +0000

Great report. Sorry you couldn't get a great view of Roger, but it's awesome Rafa signed your tennis ball!

By: mon

mon — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:26:12 +0000

That's true, freakyfrites! By the way, thanks for all the awesome posts you've done. They're very informative and entertaining! Roger has been keeping you busy, lately! …And we don't mind it one bit…hahaha

By: freakyfrites

freakyfrites — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:52:12 +0000

Yeah, I remember in Cincy, Roger was holding up the next match because he was signing so many autographs! And he probably had a million other appointments yesterday, plus diaper duty, etc. Glad for the fans that Rafa was so accommodating!

And thanks again, Judy for the post! The photos of Rafa, especially, are wonderful. Yellow is a great color for him!

By: evie

evie — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:14:47 +0000

Federer's parents don't usually come this early to Slams. They must be missing the twins.

By: mon

mon — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:12:50 +0000

Hi, I was just thinking that perhaps, the organizers had to get Roger out of there before the others arrived; because it would have been way too crazy having them there all at once…just a thought!

By: Judy

Judy — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:51:06 +0000

Many thanks to GTT for sharing my report and pics!

Agreed, they could have definitely made it more fan friendly! Hopefully in the future they will. They were certainly attending to the kids organizations and the media. The security was super tight and could have been nicer. I understand they have to control the crowd and keep things safe, but at times they were a bit much. Fans were out in the hot sun, just hoping to see the players and weren't there to cause problems. Next time they should make it so that more fans can see the action and enjoy. Still, it was fun to see many players at one event and it was a great way to promote tennis and the US Open.

I do wish more of the players signed autographs, as Rafa was kind enough to do. I will let Rog slide on this one as it is very well known he often spends 30 mins signing for fans, post practices and matches and during tournaments. He may have never gotten out of there if he started to sign stuff!

By: sazzsylove

sazzsylove — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:42:50 +0000

So glad that you rafanatic enjoyed the event,….from what i gathered the rogerholics also enjoyed the event despite the uncool set up and the “thugs” cum security guards because they have seen Roger in the flesh wearing his USO kit and looking happy and relaxed in his “New York”.

By: freakyfrites

freakyfrites — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:27:21 +0000

Oh, glad to hear it was worth your while! Based on the photos – Rafa looks FABULOUS! Best I've seen him looking in a while – happy, tanned, in a great outfit (Im' the one person who didn't like the pink shirt!) And it sounds like he was terrific with the fans. He knew what to do, even if the organizers didn't – give back to the fans!!!!

By: avidyvette

avidyvette — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:29:06 +0000

I was there too! I thought the portion with Roger was a bit more disappointing since it was short and, especially, the security guards were real dicks and pushed us with barricades onto the "sidewalk" for no reason (the street was on the other side of the media tent)! There was plenty of room for us to watch everything – they were just being thugs. Not cool. There were many people who I overheard saying this was an incredibly disorganized event (it didn't care about us fans). But, when I came back for Rafa, we got there early since we knew the lay of the land and we got into the area just next to the court so thankfully the guards didn't bother us. When Rafa "played" Serena and then McEnroe, he was on our side so we were CLOSE! We met fellow Rafanatics and it ended up being an unforgettable event, despite Nike! We made it so. Rafa looked FANTASTIC and even better than on TV. Can't wait for next week!