We have arrived in New York 4 days before the tournament. After Toronto we had a very brief stop in Cincinatti. Where Galina only played doubles. One match of doubles actually. She was so tired, that she miss hit a few balls during the match.
But we didn’t get upset about the result in Cincinatti. Instead we focused on what laid ahead-US Open. Of course we took a few days off. What did we do? Absolutely nothing! Just ate, swam and watched TV.
All the years I’ve played at the US Open, I always stayed in Manhattan. Being from a big city myself, I love the energy of New York! I love that you can walk everywhere. Lots of cool places to see and eat at. I always have fun in the Big Apple.
This year was different. We decided to stay with Galina’s friend in Long Island. It was my first time in Long Island. It’s about 20min from NYC, but it’s so different. Small, quiet and green. And its also closer to the tennis site, than Manhattan.
Galina started the tournament from qualifying. Even though her ranking after Toronto went up to #89 in the world. She still had to play qualifying. By WTA rules, when the tournament deadline has past, the entry list is frozen. And is only updated when the draw is made. Then, your seeding will be determined based on the previous week’s ranking.
During the first qualifying match, we had an earthquake. Actually, Washington D.C. had an earthquake. Ours were just aftershocks.
Still, I thought I was dizzy at first. I reached for my bottle of water, thinking “You should drink more water. You are probably dehydrated” Then I looked at a woman sitting next to me. And she said to me: “Earthquake” At that moment I felt the cement bleachers move underneath me. Left and right, left and right. The feeling was, like being on the boat.
I looked at Galina, who was struggling to win a point. She was upset at herself. Later, when I asked her if she felt anything. She looked puzzled, and answered:”That’s why I couldn’t win a point and felt like the ball was flying in the wrong direction”
The last time I was in the earthquake was 2005, Tokyo, Japan. It was 4.8. It happened at 12am and my then boyfriend and me just turned off the lights in a room. At first, I thought it was my boyfriend who was playing a joke on me by jumping on bed. When I reached for the light, that I could barely find on my night stand. I saw walls folding in on us. Left, right… It was scary.
I dont remember how I got out of the room. And what I wore. All I remember , that on my way down the stairs from 17th floor, I flew by Johansson and his coach. And in a matter of seconds I was in the lobby. My boyfriend followed me.
Lobby was full of people. Mostly tennis players and foreigners. Hotel stuff was quietly laughing at us. TV’s were on, showing the earthquake. I guess for Japanese people earthquake is a normal thing. Later, someone explained to me. That our hotel was built on special cushions, that prevents it from earthquake damage.
But earthquake in NYC was not the only nature disaster that week. Now we were watching hurricane Irene. TV was predicting almost destruction of NYC. There was mandatory evacuation for Long Island. Galina’s last qualifying match was on Friday. I told her to focus on it, while I was trying to figure out what to do next.
After few attempts to reserve a hotel in “low flood zone”We finally managed to get Hilton at $360 per night. They told us we got the last rooms. New York was going crazy! On Saturday morning the streets of Manhattan were empty. No cars, no people. Everyone inside, waiting for Irene to hit.
That same Saturday morning, Galina’s entourage (that would be her grandparents and me) Took our bags and left for Manhattan. It was 9.30am. We were trying to make 12pm deadline for bridges into Manhattan to close.
Every hotel we drove by, looked like it was being invaded. People with bags, food, water bottles. Serious faces everywhere. I felt like the war was coming and we were on the lock down in the center of New York.
Our hotel was no different. The people were pouring in. I’ve never seen such long lines at the reception. The lobby was not enough for all the people. And everyone had the same question to the receptionists:”Will your hotel withstand the winds?”
MSNBC interviewed us after we checked in. A cameraman followed Galina and me to our room. We, carrying all the dry food and 24 bottles of water. Worrying if we were going to survive. I have been through hurricanes before. But everytime the new one is coming, you never know what to expect. Especially when you watch TV. And there are mandatory evacuations.
The tennis center was closed for the weekend. No practice, no transportation. Some players even drove up to 5hrs away. Thank God Galina past the qualifying, so we didn’t have to worry about an unfinished match. But there was a worry if the tournament was going to continue. Because with all the media predicting “bad and dangerous hurricane” I was worried abou the state of the stadium after the storm.
But the morning hurricane Irene was suppose to show her mean face. With strong winds and flooding. I carefully looked outside the window, seeing only rain. I turned on TV. It was hitting us. But where are the strong winds? Where is all the damage promised? It’s not like I looked forward to see damaged New York. But from everything we’ve heard on TV felt like this is it! I guess Irene lost it’s force on it’s way to NYC. And all we got was rain.
We were happy about that. That meant the tournament was going to continue on time. Of course there was a big bill for two days stay. But better safe than sorry! Right?
On monday, our US Open routine went back to normal. Practice has resumed and Galina was scheduled to play her first round match agianst Schiavone on Tuesday. We returned to our Long Island housing. Where only a couple of trees lost their branches.
On Tuesday morning Galina took court against Schiavone. Francesca is a difficult player with lots of different shots in her arsenal. So it took Galina a while to get used to her game. Galina lost the first set, but came back strong in the second. Third set was intense. The points were long. Galina fought till the end, but lost 6-4 in the third set. It was a good match, that showed Galina’s pottential yet again.
But US Open was not over for us. Galina and her partner Sue Wei Hseih showed great form in doubles. They got to the 4th round loosing to Peschke-Srebotnik.
This year, New York had a couple of surprises for us. An earthquake and a hurricane. Though opponents on court. And thats why we love New York. It’s never boring! See you next year Big Apple! Let’s see what you’ll surprise us with in 2012!