After a year away, I couldn’t wait to get back to the beautiful grounds at the Linder Family Tennis Center to catch all the pros playing ALL. THE. TENNIS. I could have done without the constant sweating still, but you can’t win them all. Either way, I was glad to be back at this excellent tournament!
Right off the bat I have to state my sadness that Rafa, Roger, and even Novak all pulled out of this tournament. I swear, someday I will watch Rafa play live and in person again! With that being said, there was still plenty of talent to see, and Wednesday’s day session certainly had a crazy slate! But first, Tuesday’s night session was only marginally delayed by some serious rain, but the courts were dry by the time my dad and I made our way in. We caught Mateo Berrettini and Denis Shapovalov in action on Centre Court and the Grandstand, respectively. Both were very tight matches, but the surprise of the night was the cool calm that Benoit Paire brought to his win over Shapovalov.
In the morning, we arrived bright and early to catch a full day’s worth of matches! Starting off the day was Kerber edging out Svitolina, followed by a really intense pairing of Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka, and I think Osaka’s experience is what helped her pull out the win. I headed over to the Grandstand briefly to catch Andy Murray, although he ended up losing in two sets. Next up, I caught a bit of Cilic and Rublev’s battle, which like many other matches that day, took three sets to finish. These are a lot of tough competitors going up against each other! With that being said, 2019 champion, Daniil Medvedev very handily beat his opponent in just under an hour – wow! To cap off the day, I caught a bit of Alexander Zverev’s match, and then hopped on over to catch the tail end of Isner’s match.
All in all, a great tournament, and I was so happy to be back! I appreciated all that they did to make the tournament safer in the throws of another Coronavirus surge, but I do hope everyone can do their part so that next year’s tournament can be enjoyed like it was in the past. Also, I obviously would like to see Rafa back here for the first time since 2017 – so hopefully next year is the year! If you’re a tennis fan and aren’t too far from the greater Cincinnati area, then definitely consider adding this event to the books!