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| View of the Edom Mountains from Centre Court (Eilat) |
For a hardcore fan, this tournament can be a little tennis heaven. There aren't a lot of tournaments where you might sit just behind Agnieszka Radwanska while she's watching her sister play, for instance. Almost every country had at least one top-50 player in its team, with a lineup that could well be seen in a WTA International tournament. The venue is pretty small, so everything is very close - you're just near the players as they practice and play, and you can quickly skip from watching Radwanska to Pironkova to Halep to Martic. Or you can watch two young Greek girls taking on the veteran Anne Kremer from Luxembourg, whose age is both their ages combined. There's a lot of tennis around, and I had 4 wonderful days of doing nothing but watching it.
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| A. Radwanska watching U. Radwanska |
Most of the teams in Group I have either one good player (say, top-50) in an otherwise weak team (if you go by the rankings), or a couple of medium-ranked players (around 70 or so). The latter are those who end up qualifying (Great Britain and Sweden, this year), due to the relative depth that they have. In most cases, each team's No. 1 has to play both singles and doubles with half an hour for rest in between - for four straight days. It is therefore not surprising that by the end of the tournament, the players are taped, strapped and plastered all over their bodies, in an attempt to last just a little bit longer. The grueling format, coupled with the fact that only two teams out of fifteen actually qualify, makes the players invest a lot of effort for no actual result (the last day of the tournament comprises of matches to determine rankings, even for those teams who can't qualify or be relegated).
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| 2 out of 3 tapes Aga had on the last day |
The Israeli tennis fans aren't that bad, you know
The Israeli crowd is notorious for its mocking of Maria Sharapova's grunting in the 2008 Fed Cup, and for its general tendency for rude behaviour during Davis Cup or Fed Cup ties in Ramat Ha-Sharon (Israel's largest tennis facility). However, the crowd in Eilat is a different matter entirely. Since it's the most southern point in Israel, quite far from the country's centre, the only people who come there are serious tennis fans (or just Eilat residents). As a result, there's silence during the points, almost no interruptions between serves - a proper tennis crowd. There was a single attempt to imitate Michelle Larcher De Brito's grunt, but the kid was quickly shushed.
So... this may not mean much, but not all of us are bad. Really.
Team spirit is everything
Poland, who were the favourites, lost their last crucial doubles match both because the players were tired, and because of an obvious lack of communication between the two sisters. Before the match they had some sort of an argument with their captain (regarding who will play, I assume), and neither looked to happy on court.
Great Britain's team was the complete opposite. While they had a freshness advantage (each of the 4 players played one match every day), what distinguished them the most out of the teams I saw was their team spirit. They cheered each other constantly, and looked genuinely happy to be together. The result was a great celebration, seen here courtesy of Israel Tennis Results:
Miscellaneous
My biggest achievement as a tennis fan - I made a player laugh on court! Sang "I like big butts and I cannot lie" to Laura Robson during her doubles match vs Israel (it was just for the protocol, so it didn't hinder a proper match). She giggled ^_^
All in all, it was a great event, and I had lots of fun there. Congrats to GB and Sweden for going through!
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