View Full Version : Linda's trip to Monte Carlo 2013
I will write just a few words about my trip and give a link to my photos.
I arrived on Tuesday afternoon in Monte Carlo. After unpacking and going to the supermarket, I then went for a walk down to the Casino area where I took some photos. It was early evening by then.
On Wednesday morning I met up with some of the other VBers who were staying in the same building, and we walked to the MCCC. We were lucky to find that Rafa was practising with Marc Lopez on Centre Court. My photos of Rafa are not very good.
After watching Rafa's practice, I decided to forego Berdych v Granollers in favour of Colin & Johnny v Knowle & Nielsen on Court 2. There was hardly anyone watching - I took a photo of the empty seats - so I was able to sit in the front row, where I waved my Union Jack and made encouraging comments. I was able to take some quite good photos as I was so near to them. At the end of the match I got Johnny to sign my flag (I already had Colin's autograph on it). I wished them luck for the rest of the tournament and Colin thanked me for my support. :)
From where I was sitting I could see the big scoreboard on Court des Princes so I knew that I would get back to Centre in good time for Rafa's match. During Rafa's match it got very hot and I had to go out at the end of the match to find some shade or I think I would have fainted.
I have just realised that my photos from the rest of Wednesday (including Andy's first match) have not arrived on Photobucket so I will have to go and look for them :confused:
To be continued!
I am an idiot! :doh: I just remembered what happened - at the end of Rafa's match my camera battery ran out of charge - so I changed the battery but the other battery was flat too. So I didn't get any more pictures that day :shamed:
After spending some time in the shade, I went back in and saw the second and third sets of Nole v Youzhny, which was quite a good match. :)
Then it was time for Andy's match! His opponent was not very good so it wasn't really possible to assess how well Andy was playing. I was looking to see how his movement was on clay - when he didn't have to move far he was doing a nice elegant little slide but he didn't attempt any long slides. At one point during the match I saw him walking behind the baseline as though he had wet himself - the last time I saw him walking like that it turned out that he had a bad back. So I was rather concerned :sofa:
In the evening several of us went to a cheap canteen-style Thai restaurant which was fun. Most of them go for the whole 9 days so we don't eat out every night as it would cost too much. We can cook our own food in the apartments.
On Thursday we again arrived at MCCC in time to watch Rafa practising with Marc on Centre. After Rafa's practice we went for a bit of shade on some steps. Troicki arrived with his coach and proceeded to run up and down the steps, then go up jumping four steps at a time with feet together. Quite impressive. Apparently Nole had been doing the same the other day, but he'd got them to close off the area so that people had to go round another way.
Then I went for a look along the practice courts. On the first one, Stan was practising; on the second, Richie. On the third, Andy - so I took several photos of Andy and his team (I had remembered to charge my batteries overnight!). Then I heard a lot of cheering coming from Court des Princes and managed to peek in just in time to see Fognini defeat Berdych! I was sorry that I couldn't go to support Colin & Johnny again but their match would have clashed with the end of Rafa's and the start of Andy's :sad:
By the time I got back to Centre, it was the last set of Tsonga's match. That was followed by Rafa v Kohlschreiber and then Andy v Stan. Two very nice Swiss ladies sat in front of me and told me that they were sure that Andy would win. Even after Stan took the first set they told me that Andy would win because Stan couldn't serve out matches. I knew that Stan was better than Andy on clay but expected a much closer match which either of them could win. It was really a very poor performance from Andy :sad: and I wondered again about his back, although I didn't see any further signs of discomfort when walking. Stan was hitting blistering winners down both sides and Andy just couldn't get near them. Afterwards, an English lady came past my seat on her way out and said to me, what on earth happened to him? I told her that I thought he might have a bad back. She said that people sitting near her were booing him and that she thought it was very bad of them. I hadn't heard any booing myself, but I know the French (actually there are just as many Italians here) love to boo so I wouldn't be too surprised as the match was so one-sided :sad:
I then cheered for Pico against Nole but was unsurprised when Nole won.
Then four of us went for afternoon tea at the Bay hotel, where the players were staying. It was very posh indeed. We saw Sebastian Nadal with Benito at another table, but there was no sign of Rafa. In fact the only player we saw was Benneteau.
On Friday we again arrived in time to see Rafa practising on Centre. This time he was practising with Stan - I was surprised to see them practising together as they were likely opponents in the next round. Also Stan would just have time to get changed and come back onto court for his match against Tsonga! Stan was looking very impressive - if they had been counting points then he would have been winning. I started to wonder whether Stan would win the tournament - which would have made Andy's loss seem not quite so bad.
Anyway, to my surprise Stan lost to Tsonga. Then it was Rafa's match. He started off very well, taking the first five games I think, but then Dimitrov started to play better. In the second set it was very strange - it seemed as though Rafa had just lost all his energy; his serve speed slowed right down and he kept weakly hitting the ball into the net. Dimitrov took the second set as easily as Rafa took the first. At the end of the second set, Rafa went off court after yelling at his team for something - I don't know what it was he wanted. The third set was very difficult as Rafa still seemed lacking in energy and Dimitrov was playing very well. In fact I think Dimitrov would have won but he started to cramp at the end of the set and Rafa scraped through. When Rafa took off his shirt to put on his jacket we saw that he had his back taped. :sad:
Then the Prince arrived to watch Fabio. All the Italians around me were cheering for Fabio. I saw Fabio beat Richie, but then didn't stay for Nole v Nieminen.
That evening a dozen of us went out to eat at the same Italian restaurant that we've been to previous years (it was very nice again). The conversation was all about Rafa's back and we thought that he would probably lose to Tsonga the next day, or if he managed to beat Tsonga then he would lose to Nole (we intended to cheer for Fabio but didn't hold out a lot of hope for him) in the final :sad:
Great blog, Linda. Crikey - that jumping up 4 steps thing sounds a bit risky from an injury point of view!
On Saturday we again arrived in time for Rafa's practice on Centre. I saw that his practice partner today (Eysseric?) was wearing Andy's 'Prepare-Attack-Destroy' t-shirt. The weather had changed completely from hot to very cold - I was wearing a cardigan and a light jacket and was absolutely frozen. I watched the doubles match between Benneteau/Zim and Marrero/Verdasco then Rafa's match against Tsonga.
Rafa seemed to be playing much better today and after an hour had three match points. I was thinking that we'd been worrying for nothing, but then Jo saved the three match points and got both the breaks back, taking it to a tiebreak. Rafa won the tiebreak and the match, but it was a little worrying that he'd let Tsonga right back into the match when he should have finished it.
The Prince then turned up again to watch Fabio. After Fabio had played so well in his previous matches, we thought that he would be able to give Nole a decent match. But it wasn't to be - he'd reverted to the old Fabio who strolls around as though he couldn't care less. He lost miserably. And got booed.
By this time I was absolutely frozen and didn't hang around for the other doubles match (I'm not a particular fan of the Bryans or Raonic or Tomic anyway.)
And so finals day dawned! The forecast was for sun all morning then rain from 2pm - 5pm - just when the match would be played :grrr:
We got there early and strolled around taking photos of each other. We saw the Prince playing doubles on one of the practice courts. Apparently one of his opponents was Guy Forget but I didn't recognise him (he looks quite old now). Then we watched Rafa's practice on Centre. Today his opponent was a local junior - he always practises with a local junior on finals day; I wonder if they have some sort of competition to see who will have the honour. When Rafa finished practising Nole came on for his practice and we all went to eat our lunch and mooch around and take more pictures of each other. When we passed the Babolat stand they gave us inflatable clappers. It was nice and sunny for most of this time but we could see clouds approaching. It seemed like a long time to wait around and we wished they were playing earlier, especially as rain was forecast.
Finally it was time for the match. The players came on court and started to warm up, and it started to rain. First just a few spots but then it became quite heavy so the players had to go off and the court was covered. I stayed in my seat and tried to use my flag as an umbrella but after a while it was soaked through and the rain looked as though it was in for a long time, so I left my seat. I tucked my flag on top of my bag and went out in search of a coffee. I had to fight my way through loads of people who were sheltering under the stand. When I reached the coffee stall the rain was easing and the sky was looking brighter, so I didn't queue for a coffee after all but went back in. I had nearly got to my seat when I realised that my flag was no longer on the top of my bag. This was the flag that I had got signed by Rafa last year. I retraced my steps to the coffee stall but there was no sign of it. :crying: I hoped this wouldn't be a bad omen for the match.
So when I got back in, as I didn't have a flag to wave I inflated the clappers. The sun came out and the match started. I was applauding each point that Rafa won until a lady behind tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me madame, but would you stop using those as it is annoying the people around you" - although the other people hadn't seemed annoyed at all. So after that I just used them when Rafa won a game. But he didn't win many more games :crying: He was still lacking in energy - he kept finding the net :sad: - and Nole was playing really well. So Nole won :sad: Rafa himself seemed quite cheerful during the ceremony but we all felt down. Some were crying.
I had to leave soon after the match ended to get to the airport. Flo (a French VBer who lives in the South of France) kindly gave me a lift to the airport.
Although we got the wrong result on Sunday, and I'd spent much of the week worrying about both Andy's and Rafa's backs, I had an enjoyable week on the whole. It was good to meet up with all the Rafa fans again. Mila from Spain had done some terrific artwork which you can see in my photos - which are here (http://s227.photobucket.com/user/Granny_Linda/library/Monte%20Carlo%202013?sort=2&page=5).
supergran
24-04-2013, 17:28
Great blog Linda, glad you had a lovely time and saw so many players including you favourites!! So sorry about your flag...it's horrible when you treasure something, leave it somewhere and when you go back....it's gone. Fantastic array of photos.:thanks::thumbup:
Fantastic photos, Linda. Monte Carlo really is a beautiful place.
JAMES4578
24-04-2013, 19:26
Great photos and blog Linda, glad you had a great time even if everything didn't go your way, real pity about the flag!
RoastLamb
24-04-2013, 19:46
Great blog! Wow, you sure took a lot of photos. MC looks so beautiful! :thanks:
MC is a beautiful place. I intended to take less photos this year, but I still ended up with quite a lot.
:thanks: Great blog Linda. :):)
I must have had my signature for a year now, as I see that it is this Sunday's reading.
Thanks Linda - great blog!
Thanks for the excellent blog and photos, Linda. As always very enjoyable reading. :thumbup: :pirate: :sad:
patmoren
25-04-2013, 06:31
Thanks Linda, sorry Rafa didn't win for you!!
Thanks for a wonderful blog, Linda - and terrific photos. You are so lucky! Even tho Rafa didn't win. My current fantasy is that I win the Euromillions and can then spend a couple of years just following bits of the tour round the world, spending extra time in particularly amazing places - think I will need that win to afford a trip to MC! Sounds amazing though, thanks for taking the effort and time to let us share the experience through your blog and pics.
david1610
25-04-2013, 21:33
Just as aside, but the second court at Estoril, called Centralito, looks to have been modelled on that court. Very similar stone and viewing areas!
banskogirl
26-04-2013, 21:01
Great blog Linda :thanks: would be amazing to visit MC
Great blog Linda :thanks: would be amazing to visit MC
Was just checking our cruise and when we go to Nice we have the choice of an excursion to MC - that's the one for me I think having been there years ago and forgotten how lovely it is till seeing Linda's photos.
banskogirl
27-04-2013, 17:41
Hey I forgot to check out the photos, where are they?
Hey I forgot to check out the photos, where are they?
here (http://s227.photobucket.com/user/Granny_Linda/library/Monte%20Carlo%202013?sort=2&page=5).
Thanks for a great blog Linda - MC does look fabulous.
banskogirl
28-04-2013, 22:07
here (http://s227.photobucket.com/user/Granny_Linda/library/Monte%20Carlo%202013?sort=2&page=5).
Great pics Linda :) is Rafa the player who took his shirt off? ;)
banskogirl - All the players take their shirts off, but Rafa is the only one I take shirtless photos of ;)
Did you see my vid?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV3KNj9xH9g
Fantastic blog Linda, absolutely loved it! Love the photos and videos of Rafa even more! Keep the blogs and photos coming, well done :thanks:
banskogirl
01-05-2013, 14:00
banskogirl - All the players take their shirts off, but Rafa is the only one I take shirtless photos of ;)
Did you see my vid?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV3KNj9xH9g
Oh yes I did mean to have the word 'only' in there...... Yes I guessed that :bravo:
Great blog and photos as always Linda, thanks. I hardly saw any of MC this year but would love to visit.
Years ago when I was off work for a year doing my masters degree, I could have gone for a long weekend free with work for a meeting ..... except I wasn't home when they tried to ring me about it and they needed to know that day so I missed out! I was gutted to say the least .....
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