SAP Open Tennis

I am so sad that the SAP Open is leaving San Jose, but on the plus side, I’m so glad that I was able to catch it before it disappears off to Memphis (or Brazil?). It really is a shame that the SAP Open is leaving, though I can understand why. It must really suck for the Sharks to have to go on an extended away trip every year to accommodate that tournament (even though I’m not a huge hockey fan), and the SAP Open doesn’t attract the same level of top players that it used to. It’s also unfortunate that they only have one tennis court, which makes scheduling matches really hectic. That being said, it was (is?) still a great tournament and was great for bay area tennis lovers!
We had tickets to both the semifinal and finals matches, and I’m so so glad we went. In the evening after the semifinal matches there was going to be an exhibition doubles match between Lindsay Davenport/​Justin Gimelstob and Steffi Graf/​Andy Roddick. We didn’t have tickets to the evening event, so we weren’t expecting to be able to see any of those guys at all, but surprise surprise, in between the semifinal matches, Andy Roddick and Justin Gimelstob came out to practice and sign autographs! Super exciting.
tl;dr: My sister and I are still mourning the loss of this tournament, but hopefully someone will realize how much the bay area loves tennis and bring a new tournament back here!

If you’re a tennis fan, check out the SAP Open this week at HP Pavillion. It’s one of the only professional tennis tournaments in the Bay Area and it is ending this year. Even though the top ten won’t be playing, there are some top 50 players in the field. The Pavillion has some good seats (my favorites are the baseline lower level) where you can see the angles on the court. This saves your neck from turning left and right for hours.
Parking and food can be costly, but there is neighborhood parking and you can probably buy a sandwich and bring it in. Go online and see if you can get a ticket for the week. There are some good deals.

Great match between Verdasco and Raonic. Verdasco being the #9 in the world at the time of the match and Raonic was #152, so naturally, Raonic was an underdog. He was down 6 – 2 at the tie breaker in the first set when he came roaring back with 4 straight winners and ended up winning the tie breaker 8 – 6 which game him the first set win.
I am so glad to be there to witness what might be the future #1 in the world and quite possibly the future star of tennis. He has all the makings of a champion, very nice fella, down to earth, and a 150 mph serve!
If you’ve never seen SAP Open then you better go next year, hopefully Milos Raonic will be there and other top ranked players.

Fun and inexpensive Tennis event in San Jose. Food is expensive though. I had a great time and will come back for more.

In one evening we saw ANDY RODDICK, JAMES BLAKE, MARDY FISH, JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO, SAM QUERREY, KEI NISHIKORI, ERNESTS GULBIS,.all in one evening! We sat in the second row, down at court level, so it was as if we were right on the court. To see this level of play from this viewing perspective was fantastic. You have no idea how talented these guys are until you see them this way.

I originally decided to go to the SAP Open because there were discounted tickets on Goldstar! Everyone should sign up to be on their mailing list. I purchased two tickets in section 114, row 9 for only $ 40 each (includes taxes and transaction fees) when the face value for that ticket is usually $ 91. The venue wasn’t packed for this event so I’m sure if you’re sly, you can mosey into closer seats.
DATE: 2÷14÷09
First match (men’s singles): James Blake vs. Marty Fish
This was not as entertaining as I had anticipated. Blake had an injured ankle and wasn’t really running for any of the shots. Marty Fish was a good sport though. The most entertaining event was watching someone on the other side of the stadium drop a gigantic tennis ball (they sell them for $ 35 each) that fell all the way down from the nosebleeds to the very bottom.
Second match (men’s doubles): R. Bopanna/​J. Niemenin vs. S. Huss/​R. Hutchins
I’ve never really watched any doubles matches on TV or live but I enjoyed watching the strategy. They really do much more talking than running. The game does go slightly slower because the teams spend a lot of time whispering into each others’ ears.
If you’re up for walking a couple city blocks, I recommend parking downtown. There’s street parking (meters usually have a 2-​hour time limit) and parking garages. We parked at a garage near Santa Clara St. and Terraine Street and turns out that there was no charge before 6 p.m. I wouldn’t buy any of the food at the HP Pavilion because it’s expensive so just pack it! SLR cameras are allowed as long as your lens’ length is within the maximum – the guy wasn’t specific as to what it was; he just checked and said it was fine.
The best part about all this? You get a free burrito from any Chipotle location by just bringing your ticket stub in! And that’s a burrito WITH guacamole.

Parking’s expensive, food is poor/​expensive, there’s only one indoor court (which plays way too fast), and there’s no way to view the guys practicing since they have to do it off-​site.
Still, it’s the biggest tennis tournament in Northern California along with the women’s event at Stanford, so it’s worth checking out. Not a lot of the big names (aside from the usual American suspects) come to play at San Jose, but the upside to that is that you can watch a lot of the lower-​ranked players and up-​and-​coming youngsters if you’re lucky. In my trips here I’ve seen players like James Blake, Tommy Haas, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Tommy Robredo, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, and Pete Sampras.
Money-​saving tips: Come on a weeknight, or weekday, if you can. Day sessions are cheaper and parking during the day is also cheaper. The Saturday semis and the Sunday final are far more expensive and can be viewed at home on basic cable. Eat before coming to watch the tennis (I always eat an apple on the walk over from the parking lot to the venue), and pack some snacks and water in your car for later, unless you really don’t mind paying $ 8 for a smelly old hot dog or $ 5 for a bottle of water.

I love attending the SAP Open. This will be our 4^th year in attendance and we’ve been able to purchase the same seats for all 4 years! How can you do this? Well, if you purchase a ticket package one year, they will offer the same seats/​package to you before releasing it to the public. Gotta love that kind of service.
We’ve always had fun watching the matches. The tournament doesn’t necessarily bring all of the top players, but we’ve been able to see James Blake, Andy Roddick, and Andre Agassi. It’s also a great place to see some rising tennis stars (Andy Murray, Benjamin Becker, etc.). The tournament also has a couple of wild card spots and those are determined by a pre-​tournament tournament that’s usually done in Sunnyvale; I really appreciate the chance to see a local competing with the big guys.
My only complaint (but not enough of one to justify a minus star): parking is kind of expensive ($ 15)… but eh, that’s just the price of going to the Pavilion arena.

Watching great players is a treat at any venue, but truth be told, it’s a real shame that Silicon Valley doesn’t host a real tennis tournament. They key is to implement a format similar to the ones used at the Grand Slams or even Indian Wells, where you can just buy *any* ticket to get on the grounds and watch a TON of great tennis 10 – 20 feet away from the players.
I even enjoy watching the warm up courts since you have a much better perspective and appreciation for their shot mechanics, etc.
At least the SAP Open is indoors. Despite the lack of glamor, I honestly believe most of us (professionals through club player hackers) play better indoors, and that includes consistency.

«Business casual» was the appropriate attire indicated on the invitation for the SAP Open Tennis event. Clearly, business casual in San Jose means jeans and a t-​shirt! I felt so overdressed wearing a simple pencil skirt paired with a light sweater.
I actually did not care much for Andy Roddick, instead turned my attention to 18 year old Andy Murray and John McEnroe! The both ended up playing very well! The VIP area was fabulous and for having a «buffet» type dinner, the quality was very good and catered by the HP Pavilion itself.

Watched the Quarterfinals tonight and Andy Roddick was playing and he won and will be going into the semi-​finals tomorrow against Andy Murray. John McEnroe was playing doubles Jonas Bjorkman (one hell of an awesome match!) and will also be in the semi-​finals tomorrow. Great facility, had corporate tickets and access to the Ace Club, nice quality food, variety of snacks, had a blast! Great come back, McEnroe!