Virginia and I went to the fourth (and final, as it turns out -- Serbia won the tournament 3-1) match of the Davis Cup tournament here in Belgrade yesterday. In this match, No. 2 Novak Djokovic (Serb) was squaring off again No. 22 John Isner (American). Isner finally succumbed after over four hours of play, but every minute of the match was thrilling. Although I've never been much of a tennis follower, I now see why people love watching this game -- it really is incredible, both in terms of athleticism and suspense. Isner had played (and lost) to Viktor Troicki (whose Mom works at the U.S. Embassy) on Friday night, and had to play unexpectedly in the doubles match on Saturday after one of his teammates came down with food poisoning on Friday night! Djokovic's homefield advantage was significant; a very proud and enthusiastic Serbian crowd kept him going, while the small crowd of American fans (including Isner's Dad, John McEnroe's parents -- there to watch their son, Patrick, coach the Americans --, some U.S. Embassy employees, and of course, Virginia and me!) did its best to provide encouragement for Isner. For you true tennis fans, here is a link to the blow-by-blow of the match.
Photos compliments of my friend, Paul Bergen.
I just wanted to tell you thank you again for that wonderful story about your son and his audition (further down a few posts ago).
ReplyDeleteIt really touched me how you posted about the experience he had - and talked about how wonderful it was - *even though* he didn't get the part.
Lots of parents nowadays would be so self-conscious that he didn't get the part that they would avoid talking about the great experience that he went through, and so it touched me that you feel differently.
In the spirit of your post, I also wrote lately on my own blog about how my son tried very hard at something (except, in my son's case, he pretty much had NO shot at all of getting the award at the end)... and I mentioned your blog and that post of yours as a parallel, since I found it so touching.
Just wanted to let you know as a courtesy. The link is:
http://bit.ly/aUPcLg
Thanks!
~A Daring Adventure
Thanks, Daring Adventure. Actually, it would never have occurred to me NOT to have seen my son's experience as anything other than amazing (despite the obvious disappointment). I appreciate your positive feedback. I checked out your blog yesterday and will spend some more time looking at it today. Beautiful blog, really!!
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