Tennis Legends Championship Classic

I am already becoming quite familiar with The Palace of Auburn Hills.  Not only is the arena the home of Detroit Pistons basketball games and company offices, but holds more events and concerts a week than I can keep up with.

I guess you could say a pretty amazing perk of Scott’s new job is the opportunity to attend most of these events.

I have a feeling we are about to embark on a crazy, fun and busy year… so get ready to ride along and experience it with us!

Tennis Legends Championship Classic

To be honest, I have never really gotten into watching tennis.  When Scott told me about the tickets and who was playing, I became a little embarrassed to say I hadn’t a clue of who any of them are.

Presumably, who we were going to see are the best of the best, so I was excited to go check them out.  That, and it was also another excuse to break in some of my new winter wardrobe pieces.

😉

We got to The Palace a few minutes before the event started, and I was surprised to see the stands were only a third of the way full.  Maybe I was not the only one who hadn’t heard of these legends?

Full house or not, we sat down and were ready to see some tennis.

The first match was between two known rivals: Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe.  Both are known for being arrogant during game play, and while Lendl has taken on a serious “robot” persona, McEnroe has a reputation of throwing temper tantrums when things fail to go his way.  Thirty years later, he is still known as the “bad boy” who shook up the game.

I was unable to get many clear photos because of the motion, but here is one I posted last night on Instagram of McEnroe tearing up the court.

Since I am unfamiliar with most things “tennis”, I spent the majority of the night picking Scott’s brain about rules, regulations and history of the game and its players.

I also found it humorous to watch the heads turn back and forth during long plays.  It reminds me of when one of our cats follows a feather on a string toy back and forth.

Everybody to the left… now to the right… now back to the left.  Classic!

After seven rounds, Lendl came back at the end and took the first match of the night.  Scott said it is rare to see him smile, but I guess this tour is a different environment and a different story.

During every round of play – between all players – there was a lot of joking around and trash talking.  That might have been the best part of the game for me.

Round two introduced another set of long time rivals: Jim Courier vs. “Pistol” Pete Sampras.

Both are certainly legends, but it was Sampras who truly stood out to me.  With fourteen Grand Slam singles titles, he is now recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Maybe that is what scored him Brigette Wilson, also known as Miss Veronica Vaughn from Billy Madison as his wife.  Please tell me you have heard of this movie.  I enjoy a good quote from it quite often.

“Stop looking at me swan…” 😉

Courier put up a great fight, but in the end it was Sampras who advanced to finals.  At one point, Courier was tired of getting beat and asked if anyone in the crowd would like to take his spot over.

Who knew this random girl sitting across from us in the first few rows would smoke him?

At first I thought it had to be planned.  After she kept up, then beat Sampras in a quick round, everyone including her was shocked.  You go girl!

I have to admit, seeing tennis live is a little more exciting than watching it on television.  I guess that is the case for any sport.  I was happy to experience something new and look forward to possibly coming to the Classic again next year!

Need to Catch Up?

We are now living in Michigan and are settling into our new home here!  Recent posts include:

• Goodbye, Orlando

• Greek Power Wrap

• Driving Up

• Hotelwife Glamour

Question of the Day

• Do you follow professional tennis? If so, who is your favorite legend or player from back in the day?