I must start with a caveat: this blog will feature the name Gulbis pretty frequently as he is the reason I came to Memphis on my week off from a job in New York. So if you're allergic to the name (and I can't imagine a single reason why you should be), you've been warned. If you're a fan, a big fan, a huge fan, well then, welcome, because this is for you! And since you're a fan, I'll skip all the background info that you're presumed to know (from spending countless hours trawling the 'net of anything Gulbis, Ernests, that is) and if you know something that I don't, please do share. Also, this blog will last only as far as my stay in Memphis (and you'll probably thank me for that) as I do have to get back to work on Monday.

Day 1: Gulbis did not play today but Kunitsyn did and my radar told me that he might come and watch his friend and doubles partner play. I had this in mind when I went to the stadium but in fairness to Kuni and Andreev, there really was no other match at that hour that I wanted to see. I got there in the middle of the first set, when Andreev was firing bombs at Kuni and Kuni's somewhat permanent hangdog expression seemed very apropos to the moment. No Ernie. Time passed and I kind of forgot about him. But ho, look what the wind brought! Here HE comes rushing in with his dad and... it's really, really hard to miss two very tall men. At the next changeover, my fired-up stalkery instincts got me moving- and fast- to a seat two rows behind them and thank goodness this was not the USO as the usher did not stop me. And hey, look, there was also KHW. Apparently, he had been there all along. This was as close as I got to Ernie , just a mere two feet away, and boy, was I excited. If this is what I get on my first day in Memphis, just imagine what the next few days will bring! It took all my reserve not to stare at his back the whole entire time! First set ended and Kuni lost 6-1. The second set started off a little bit better for him and I cheered like mad, because you guessed it, I wanted a third set! Ernie was in a good mood today; he was quite the joker. He was often chuckling about something with his dad and KHW, but especially with his dad, and I just loved that. That's just something really nice to see of ANY father and son, you know. And if only I understood Latvian. My guess was that he was having fun at the expense of Andreev, who started to pile up on the UE's in the second set , even more in the third, and eventually lost the match. Vicarious revenge, anyone? So Kuni beat Andreev to humor his friend. By the way, Kuni has a nice varied game, with many approaches to the net. He quite deserved to win. Ok, what else about Ernie...there were the beautiful, reddish-brown curls that we all adore and I have to say the obvious, I just have to, he's really drop-dead gorgeous, even more so up close. Those eyes...at one point he turned around and he looked right at me. (Damn, where are the emoticons when you most need them?) Well, as you can see I did not turn to stone as here I am blogging so I know I'm safe, and so are you. It took all my self-control not to take a picture of Ernie every five minutes. I just took two and only under the pretext of photographing Kuni, who sat directly ahead of us at the opposite side of the court. (I do know how to be subtle.) I'm sorry if said pics cannot be posted here as due to my digital unsavviness I didn't even think to bring the computer cable for my camera. Heck, come to think of it, I didn't even think to write a blog until tonight. So. Match ended, everyone headed to the exit and I wanted to take pics of Kuni and Igor leaving the court. I wasn't going to take one of Ernie as at this point he was facing towards me and I'm sure you'll agree, that would just be so blase, you know? At best I could steal sideways looks. Well, idiotic camera went hiding in my bag and as I was too busy fumbling for it I didn't get to do any of the above. Ernie and company had gone and done swallowed by the crowd.

In case you are wondering if there were other things that went on besides Gulbis: First off, there was Safarova. She was so impressive against South. Powerful serve and baseline game. She just about clobbered the other girl, 6-2, 6-2. One thing I noticed about Lucie, besides her very slim (thin?) figure is that she has a very pronounced shoulder rotation in her service motion, more so than any of the girls that I've seen on the tour. I guess she needs it to make up for the lack in muscle mass, give the motion that extra momentum, and boy, is it effective. Not that it makes her service motion look weird. Indeed, it is quite nice to look at. Her ballerina-like physique is a rarity these days and you can blame Serena for that. My guess is that we're going to see them in even bigger packages in a few years and I can't wait. Btw, Gaidosova and Dokic came to watch her match.....Next, Krajicek. A tourney would be boring without an upset and Kraj did it to Kudryavtseva. In case you didn't know, this was a big upset as Kraj had to qualify for this tournament. Poor Kudry, she did all that an upset child would do- cry, stamp her feet, throw her racket, smack balls violently against the tarp, scream in Russian, cry some more. She simply could not stop an on-fire Michaela. The girl is baaaack! Her game reminds me of Sharapova's, with a matching competitive spirit to boot. I'm rooting for her to go far in this tourney.....Last but not least, Parmentier vs. Coin. This was really worth watching. Three sets of slugfest, French style. This match allowed me to see up close the difference between a very good player (Coin) and a very, very good player (Parmentier). It came down to this: (Ready? Some insight coming your way.) In the heat of an exchange, when both players are trading groundies from corner to corner, both being equally able to run the balls down and put pressure on the other, Parmentier is able to hit with more accuracy and consistency- and sustain this said accuracy and consistency longer- than Coin. At these moments, while on the run, Coin would be hitting incredible shots three times in a row and then on the fourth, would miss it as badly as a club-level player would (me, for instance) that it makes you go "what-the-hey!?"And if you've watched Coin play before, you know that she's not a headcase. She's as steady and as competitive as they come (just ask Ivanovic). At the risk of sounding trite (ok, I'll risk it), when push comes to shove it really boils down to talent, and as David Foster Wallace has pointed out in String Theory, the difference may be a mere breath but it makes ALL the difference. With that folks, I bid you g'night from Memphis, the Home of the Blues!