This year round, we got the ticket earlier and even then, the better seats were sold out. We managed to get the QR50 ones, but i would have gone for the QR70 ones for a nearer and wider view from the middle tier.
Anyways, come 8th January, all 5 of us head to the venue, Khalifa Tennis Complex Doha. The 5 of us were the 2 Ting sisters, my brother and dad, and of course me. We reached there earlier and we're in line for entrance.
When the gate is opened, we made our way in through the security and finally got our seats as close to the court as possible. There we waited for about an hour or so for the start of the semi final events at 4pm.
Soon the first match starts. It's a game between Viktor Troiki and Rafael Nadal.
Nadal showed why he is the world's no.2 player in tennis, beating Troiki 6-1, 6-3 in only around 1 hour. From the looks of it, nobody can beat him in this form.
Then comes the bladder problem. So my brother and I head to the toilet, and try to make our way back before the start of the second match between Nikolay Davydenko and Roger Federer. Due to the long line though, we just reached the top of the entrance to our seats before the stewards close it because during play, nobody is allowed to move, talk or cheer for anyone. So that means my brother and I were stuck there, waiting for the players to take a break for us to start moving again.
For the second semi finals, Davydenko beat Federer by a score of 6-4, 6-4 in 81 minutes. Throughout the whole match, they were evenly matched although i see Federer struggling a bit with Davydenko's serve. A couple of times Federer looks to be able to make a comeback, but alas Davydenko proved too much of a power for Federer to deal with. So Nadal and Davydenko for the finals.
Last but not least, the finals for the doubles event between Garcia-Lopez/Montanes and Cermak/Mertinak. The former team won by a score of 6-4, 7-5. The match isn't that interesting, with half the full arena left before the match even starts. We stayed for a while before heading back midway through the match.
For the finals, Davydenko beat Nadal 0-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a very exciting match which lasted nearly 3 hours! Nadal had a great start but soon worn himself out, and with persistent yet strong play from Davydenko he's able to win the game back.
As for chance to meet the players or get something from them, it didn't come close enough. A couple of tennis balls that the players like Nadal and Davydenko hit to fans flew just short of us, either at the back or to the side. Not much luck on that day i guess.
It was an exciting event to attend, although from far at least i saw tennis superstars in real life, hear Nadal's grunt when he hits the ball with my own ears and stuff like that.
