LIFE LIST // PRO TENNIS TOURNAMENT

Tennis can make me sentimental like nothing else can.

I go soft when I remember the summer evening that I spent glued to the basement television while Andre Agassi played his final match at the U.S. Open.

I laugh when I think about the text that my Dad sent me the day that Federer lost a long steak of wins at Wimbledon. It read, "The King has been dethroned."

I fondly remember the sit-ups I did while tuning into many an Andy Roddick match (10 sit-ups for every point he won). His abs were inspirational :)

I laugh/cry when I remember watching Wimbledon while shop-vaccing our flooded basement after a bad spring storm.

I remember how awestruck I was when standing along the fence of Stade Rolland Garros in Paris.

I'm sure that I'll be reminiscing about last Sunday for years to come - my first professional tennis tournament. Yes, after all of those sappy memories about tennis, I had yet to see the pros with my own eyes!

My friend and former Kappa roommate Kristen and I decided to make the two-hour trek to Cincinatti, Ohio for the Western & Southern Open finals. The tourney is a lead up event to the U.S. Open and all of the top players on the tour attend. I loved every hot and sweaty minute of it and am already scheming up ways to attend many other events.

 Tennis is an interesting sport to purchase tickets for because it's a gamble on what players you'll get to see. I was crossing my fingers that I'd get to see a handful of my favorites and I definitely got my wish.

Up first was the Men's Singles final and the match that I was most excited to see. It was Rafael Nadal vs. John Isner. My favorite "top four" player vs. my favorite American player.

Rafa is charismatic and entertaining. His gritty style of play makes for fun matches to watch. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that he has won a record number of French Open titles (eight!) and has a winning record against every top 30 player on the tour.

I managed to snap an awesome picture of Nadal's victory celebration on my iPhone. This is only the half of it. His win came with the signature fall-to-the-ground-spread-eagle pose and quite a few jumps, waves and fist pumps. 

Isner is by far my favorite American singles player on tour. He's known for having the best serve on the tour (it was amazing!) and for being an all-around nice guy. Oh, and for being tall. So tall!

 Between the Men's and Women's finals, we hopped into the grandstand court to watch the Men's doubles final. Lo and behold, the Bryan brothers were playing. As a former doubles player, I love the fast pace. The Bryan twins were so fun to watch. I could hear them talking to each other from my sunny perch in the first few rows.

After the first set of the Bryans, we headed back to the main stadium to watch Serena vs. Azarenka. While I'm not a huge fan of the women's side, I was happy to see the top two players in the world. It was a great match, going to a tiebreaker in the third set.

Some of my sweetest memories revolve around tennis and this Sunday was no different.