Well, I have been driving my Lexus off this week taking players back and forth for the ATP US Men's Clay Court tournament at River Oaks Country Club here in Houston, Texas. This is absolutely one of the most fun volunteer jobs you could ever hope for if you are a tennis fan. While I still have some driving left to do this week, here are a few highlights so far:
I got to see lots of Tommy Haas, both practicing and playing, before he withdrew during qualifying due to a right knee injury. Here's a photo of him during his qualifying match:
Here he is after the match, looking pretty fresh despite the fact that it was about 90 degrees outside and he had just played two not un-challenging sets:
He is incredibly good looking and these photos, taken by me with my iPhone because I'm too lazy to use a real camera, don't do him justice.
Other highlights – Ivo Karlovic is back! Yay!! And he is not a qualifier this year – he is the the 8th seed in the tournament and I think he is ranked something like No. 41 by the ATP right now. I watched him play doubles today, which he won, so I hope he will be around for awhile. Here he is serving in his doubles match, partnered up with Germany's Franky Moser:
For some reason, these photos don't look nearly as good as I think they do when I'm taking them.
Other fun things I've done – I got to drive Wayne Bryan around. He's the father of the Bryan Brothers and is here to kind of MC the center court matches. He is very nice and explained to me the Bryan Brothers clay court season schedule and why they couldn't make this tournament this year.
Also, I got to pick up Juan Monaco from the airport and drive him to the club – so cute! He is seeded No. 4 for this tournament and is ranked something like No. 12 so I'm sure I'll see more of him.
Finally, I almost got to drive Feliciano Lopez to Starbucks but I hesitated because I wasn't sure where the Starbucks was and some other driver jumped on the chance. A woman driver of course. Oh well.
I'll keep trying on the photos and see if I can get something really good. For a change.
© Kim Selzman 2012 All Rights Reserved
You are the coolest friend I have. THis week.