U.S. Open Tennis Day

Awesome day! Today we had a CCI event at the US Open in Flushing, Queens, NY. Let's just say this....it was incredible!

We left the house today around 9 am and arrived at Flushing Meadows Corona Park around 10:30 am. None of the events started until 11 so we wandered around outside all of the stadiums. Our tickets didn't get us into Arthur Ashe Stadium where the big players were competing, but we had access to all the other courts. We took some pictures once we walked in:I should have known how the day would go when one of the women working the event stood by Bright as we were waiting for the humans to take "hurry" breaks so that she could make sure that no one stepped on her tail!

We then made our way over to Court 11 where the wheelchair tennis was being played. I don't know how many people have seen this being played, but let me tell you...these guys are amazing. One of the guys had his racket strapped around his wrist with a bungee band thingy. The other guy actually had his racket taped to his hand! They were moving all over the court and moving so much faster than I can even run. They put my tennis skills to shame!

Around 12:00 we headed over to the South Gate where there is a really nice fountain. Here we gathered to do a photo shoot. One of our PRs is a professional photographer and Jen has been working the US Open so she knows a LOT of the press people there. It was awesome! I don't know where the photos will show up, but it was really neat anyways! We also had a great time socializing the puppies. As usual, we drew quite a crowd!
Then it was a quick "hurry" break out of the complex and Bright and I had fun and took a picture with the globe and fountain behind her. So neat!
We then headed over to the Louis Armstrong Stadium to see the #1 ranked woman in the world in wheelchair tennis, Esther Vergeer. She's incredible! Her opponent, Florence Alix-Gravellier, gave her a lot of competition, but ended up losing to her in 2 sets, both 7-5. These women were amazing and wheelchair tennis is so neat to watch. After they serve the ball they usually spin their chairs around so that they can get in position to return the ball. I was able to get a bit of video from the match. Just watch how Vergeer moves around the court.



Like I said....amazing!

With wheelchair tennis, the players are given an extra bounce. Instead of having only one bounce's time to get to the ball, the rules are made so that the ball can bounce one more time. This makes sense since they don't have the same movement available to them like able-bodied athletes do. I thought it was a neat little difference and most of the time the athletes didn't need to take the extra bounce, they were just that fast getting to the ball!

While we were sitting and watching the match, we saw that we were being filmed by a cameraman! I think Jen was friends with this guy also and he definitely got a lot of footage of the pups playing with all of us and also enjoying the match.
We left quickly because we were made aware that Anna Kournikova was there doing a photo shoot and autograph session. So we quickly bought a tennis ball and patiently waited in line to meet Anna. The whole time we were being followed around by the cameraman! It felt like we were all celebrities and were in the middle of filming a reality tv show. So cool!

Anna Kournikova was extremely nice and she loves dogs! I think she wanted to take a few of the pups home with her...
In talking to Jen, she said that they were going to do some kind of special or something with the footage that was shot of the pups during the day. Now that would be nice! The cameraman said that he got a lot of great video. Way to go guys!

After that it was time to go...it was already 6pm! As we were headed out we saw a HUGE tennis ball and, of course, the pups had to play with it! It was hilarious watching them jump around the ball. They all wanted to play!
As we were walking out, they had a bunch of workers lined up saying goodbye to people as they left the complex. Well, we knew that we wouldn't be able to just simply walk by, not with the pups around! So another photo opportunity presented itself and the pups performed as usual!

Once we left the complex I wanted to make a quick side trip to Citi Field (home of the New York Mets) which was just across the street. When I was there back in June (as a birthday gift from my parents!) I didn't get a picture in front of the famous Home Run Apple. Debbie and Mina came along as well and we had fun taking some pictures!
Now we are home and resting. Bright immediately passed out and doesn't seem like she wants to do much right now! So I am curled up on the couch and writing this while watching the first football game of the season. Can it get any better than this?

Hope you all enjoy the pictures. It was a super fun day and I hope we can repeat the experience next year!!!