Laver Cup 2018, Chicago - Sep 21-23, 2018

Cromar wrote:

Links to Roger's highlights and full match videos

I've found a couple more full match LC videos today  

Roger/Djokovic v Sock/Anderson: https://youtu.be/bnJjzasumHo (Full match HD) - iGoal (1-34.52)

Djokovic v Anderson: https://youtu.be/YKvE0Eb02GA  (Full match HD) - iSport (2:08:59)

Hello Steerpike! Can't wait to see your pictures and posts. How fantastic for you that you were able to get so much Roger time. And, that the matches were incredible.

Thanks to everyone for the goodies- I am travelling and have not been able to see anything beyond the scores.

Steerpike60 wrote:I got back from Chicago last night and I'm still exhausted.  I'm now back at work just trying to get caught up.  I really have no time to post anything yet but I just wanted to say how INCREDIBLE the Laver Cup was LIVE!!!

I was seated only 8 rows up from the court and facing the players.  Talk about a perfect vantage point!  

So many of the matches were close and decided in TBs/Match TBs.  Getting to see Roger play all three days was the absolute best.  I swear, I thought I was going to have a heart attack so many times!  But just thrilled to see Team Europe win again.

I'll post more details later.  YEAH ROGER!

STEERPIKE! I am delighted for you, and await your details when you're rested. It was exciting to watch even from here, and I can imagine how much more incredible it would be to watch it live.  You lucky thing!

I spent a couple of enjoyable hours yesterday watching Roger/Isner and bits of the Sascha match- especially after Roger coached him.
My overall impression of the Laver Cup is that this has to become a permanent part of the Tennis firmament- there is so much to appreciate here. It seems to me that this is a true appreciation of the greats of the game and of tennis itself- putting nationalities and rivalries aside. 

The joy and passion of all was incredible to watch and of course, Roger is truly, truly amazing. His love for tennis and for life, itself, is most infectious!

Finally getting around to posting more details about my Laver Cup experience.  I do have a few pictures but none of them are that good.  The ones found on the Internet are much better.  Plus… watching Roger live, you just realize that watching him is way more fun than trying to take action pictures as he plays.  So, I pretty much gave that up, ha!

Me and Gabby arrived fairly early on Friday as the Fan Zone opened at 10am (matches started at 1pm).  The Fan Zone was spread out over one side of the parking lot.  It had a big indoor practice court with a massive waiting line.  I guess they kept the line moving and allowed fans to take pictures while looking down on the court.  I opted not to bother with that since I had seen Roger practice so many times and honestly, our match seats had a closer vantage point so why bother?  There was a souvenir shop there too, also with a long line, but what those fans didn’t know was that there were 2-3 more souvenir shops inside the UC too!  But all were very busy all weekend.  There was only Laver Cup souvenirs.  Nothing RF specific and no UNIQLO.  I did get a LC program.  It was nice.  Too bad it still had Delpo in it, but I guess it was too late to fix that.  Wilson had a booth for folks to buy the ‘red’ racquet.  Barilla also had a tent where they gave pasta demos and had free pasta samples - nice of them to do everything for free.  Most of the “concessions” outside were drinks.  Probably on purpose since you weren’t allowed to bring any food/drink into the UC.  Anyway, the UC opened 90 minutes before each session so you had plenty of time to buy snacks and be ready for each match.

Since Roger didn’t play on Friday last year, I fully expected him not to this year either.  So, it was a very welcome surprise to see him playing doubles on Friday.  Of course, we knew he would play with Novak, if for no other reason than marketing!   Anyway, much of the audience were for Team World – especially when Isner, Sock, or Tiafoe were on court.  Expected really.  Before every session, all the players and coaches were introduced and Roger still got by far the biggest applause.  It wasn’t even close.  Made me very proud!  Anyway, back to the doubles match, obviously the best bit was when Djoker hit Roger in the back with the ball.  Djoker’s reaction was very funny and Roger was laughing too.  Djoker isn’t much of a doubles player since he’s no help at the net.  And we all know that Sock was selected for that team strictly for his doubles prowess.    And boy did it show.  He’s really been the MVP for Team World both years.

Even before the OOP came out, I was sure Roger was going to get stuck with Kyrgios on Saturday and so it proved.  I was worried about that match because Kyrgios loves team events and really rises to the occasion.  So I was surprised when he didn’t bring his best game.  But Roger playing so well was a big part of that.  It was nice to just enjoy Roger without too much stress (little did I know the stress was coming Sunday!).   The biggest shocker Saturday was Djoker losing to Anderson.  But man… Anderson was just on fire.  I guess I’m less upset about the Wimbledon loss now.  Anderson really has some game.  Anyway, it was so funny to hear myself yelling “come on Novak”.  LOL.

For Sunday, Gabby was sure Roger would play doubles with Zverev and then singles against Isner.  I wasn’t so sure.  If anything, if Roger did play the doubles, I would have thought he would be the third match up.   But Gabby was right.  Man… all three of those matches on Sunday were nerve-wracking!  It crushed me to see Roger and Sascha lose after having MPs.    But I was still pretty confident that Roger would beat Isner.  But then when he lost the first set, I was really nervous.  And the TBs?  I felt like I was having a heart attack!!  If I would have been at home, I would have definitely walked away from the TV a few times, and probably would have just followed the TBs by live-scores.  But instead, I watched each point and lived/died with each one too.  Anyway, it was nice to see Roger return the favor there – winning after saving MPs.  And how funny were the push-ups after Roger’s win?  
Obviously many fans were really cheering Kevin in the next match.  I could understand even if they were for Team Europe – I mean, who wouldn’t want to see it come down to a final match to decide?  Plus, it might have been nice to see if Djoker could redeem himself and win it.  I kind of felt bad for him to not win any points for the team.  He even mentioned it in his speech about not contributing much.  But I’m not sure my heart could take any more.  So, I was very glad to see Sascha clinch it.  And the celebrations were great.  They all looked so happy.  That’s probably the most animated I’ve ever seen Borg too.

The whole event was so worth the small fortune I paid for it.  I was only 8 rows up from the court and facing Team World, although that was okay since I could see the Team Europe bench just as well.  It’s funny, on TV last year, I was quite amused by the antics of Team World, but being there live… well, it was a bit more obnoxious.  Kyrgios and Sock, especially, came across as irritating frat boys.  Especially on the last day when they didn’t bother to sit on their team couch, but were along the court edge and many times were practically on the court when then cheered.  I don’t think Dimitrov liked it too much as he seemed to say something to Jack Sock after their doubles match on Saturday.  Honestly, I think the antics of Team World just inspired Team Europe to want to beat them even more.

I was very impressed by the whole spectacle.  It was really put together well.  And the lights/music inside the arena really added to the whole fan experience.  I had only ever been to outdoor tennis events so this was quite different.  Of course, I loved not having to worry about the sun beating down on you, “hat” hair, and gobs of sunscreen stuck to you at the end of the day.   This was much nicer in that respect.  I also ran into Karen a few times and Alison, so that was cool.  I swear, there were so many Fed fans there who came because it was their one and only chance to see Roger.  I met two guys from Mexico who were lucky enough to get Roger’s signature on their hats.  They were over-the-moon.  Stuff like that just warms my heart.  

As much as I’ve loved my trips to IW, Miami, and Cincy… this was easily the most fun I’ve had at a tennis event.  All of a sudden, I’m having to consider Geneva now!

^^
Thanks so much for your report dear

Thank you for the beautiful report, Steerpike.

A couple more thoughts from the Laver Cup:

For the most part, the fans were great.  Alison did say that things were more rowdy in the upper sections where they were seated.  I guess security did have to escort some unruly people out – no doubt alcohol contributing to that.  I would say 95% of the seats were taken by folks who bought the package with all five sessions.  So you got to know the folks around you as they were the same every day.  Still, the guy seated right behind me brought a different family member each session!  And he also offered to take Gabby and I to our hotel after the Friday and Saturday night sessions.  How nice was that?   I only heard two ‘negative’ fan shouts the whole event and both were directed at Dimitrov during the doubles match Saturday night.  One guy yelled out “How’s Maria?” which I thought was stupid.  I mean, he and Sharapova have been broken up for ages.  The other one was “Grigor sucks” and most of the fans shushed him pretty quickly.  

Another thing is how different live tennis is from TV tennis.  When I travel to tournaments, I try not to sit along the service line since that is the vantage point you get on TV.  This time I was just right of the net and like I said, only 8 rows up.  The only line I could correctly call was the service line.  Everything else, I was wrong.  I'd be like "wasn't that out?" or "that was good?".  LOL.  Also (at least for me), I react differently live than I do watching on TV.  For some reason, I get much more nervous when I watch on TV.  And like I said, I would have absolutely walked away from my TV a few times but not so live.  Also, I think it helps that I don’t have to listen to the commentary.  Also, I tend to be more appreciative to both players when I'm there.  Gabby couldn’t understand how I could clap for Team World.  But I just clapped for great points, especially in an event like this.  But I must admit that I didn’t do that as much on Sunday when I was even more nervous and I desperately wanted Team Europe to win.  

I actually flew to Chicago 4 days early to visit with a high school friend.  But I was talking to another fan who also flew in from TX but on Thursday and she said most of the folks on her plane were flying in for the LC.  Well, I noticed on my flight home that a lot of folks seemed to be talking tennis as we waited to board the plane.  Then as I was sitting in my aisle seat, I glanced over to the couple sitting next to me and they were viewing a bunch of photos on his phone.  Guess what the pictures were of?  Yup… the Laver Cup!  So we ended up talking a lot of tennis on the plane. And yes, they were Federer fans who came just to see Roger.

This event - which I have thoroughly enjoyed, is made all the better by your reports STEERPIKE. I love fan reports because so often, they help bring an event to life and your personal comments add a dimension that cannot be appreciated from a screen. I'm so glad that you enjoyed it.

Thank you very for your comprehensive report Steerpike.  Much appreciated!!!  
Thank you for taking the time to share with us.  
I was very nervous in front of my TV and I well understand the difference between watching live or on TV.  I'm happy that it was such a great experience  for you although you already was able to watch Roger live many times.
Thanks again!

Thank you so much Steerpike- you make me want to go to Geneva!

ph∞be wrote:Thank you so much Steerpike- you make me want to go to Geneva!

+ 1 for the thanks and for Geneva. Let's go!

Márcia wrote:

ph∞be wrote:Thank you so much Steerpike- you make me want to go to Geneva!

+ 1 for the thanks and for Geneva. Let's go!

I tell ya, I'm absolutely serious about looking into Geneva.