Sybase Open '99 First-hand Update Wednesday February 10, '99 4:33 am Okay, where to start..... first of all, please excuse typos b/c I'm very delirious! The evening was supposed to start at 7pm w/ Sampras then Flip playing, but b/c of delays earlier in the day, I don't think Sampras came on until at least 8:15pm and Mark at close to 9:45pm, I think. Fllip's game finally ended at around 11:45pm. The good thing was I got to see some of Gambill and Gimbelsted (no, I can't spell!) play, though I was sad Gambill lost. He is quite cute but was pretty unhappy. (Got 2 pictures of Gambill from really far away, one right after he lost, so those kind of suck.

Anyway Sampras came on, playing Blanco, a kind of cute Spanish player who looked a little like Moya and also looked pretty young. Blanco and Sampras both played well. Got a few pictures of each.

Right as Flip Began playing, we got to move down to the third row b/c people went home (what's wrong w/ them!!) and at the end of Flip's first set moved into the first row!! It was truly amazing- I was sitting right above the ball boy throwing balls so Flip looked right below me every other serve when balls were thrown at him! when I figure out how to post my pics, you can all see him up close, thorugh it seemed like he kept turning around or looking down each time the camera clicked. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! It was actually kind of scary sitting that close to Flip! I went a little crazy w/ the pics- I think I took like 20 some pictures of Mark. Hopefully they'll turn out well.

Anyway, Gavin Hopper was there (in shorts, mind you despite the temp in the 40s outside!) but no Pat Cash and no Price is Right girl or girls or any girl with Flip. He was wearing an outfit I remembered seeing from the Aussie Open- I'll check the pics when they're developed but I think it was navy shorts and a white shirt w/ large navy stripe things on both sides. Sorry girls, no shirt changes by Flip (though Sargsian did one and we were all hoping Flip would be so inspired!) He beat Sargsian in 3 sets, losing the first and winning the other two. In the first set it was really scary- I think he was down something like 4-1 at one point, then made a bit of comeback, but lost anyway. He looked really rusty at the beginning and gradually improved. Surprisingly, I wasn't really sure he was going to win it until midway in the third. He got REALLY frustrated during the match, especially in one game towards the beg of the 3rd when he kept getting a point away from breaking Sargsian, and then he'd lose, get a point away from breaking, then lose for what seemed like about 20 minutes! He got some warnings it sounded like for outbursts/scary moves w/ his racket etc.

He actually did one thing that was kind of cute at the beginning that will probably just sound lame when I describe it but anyway- he hit a very lame forehand from the baseline, and then did this cute little exageration of his shot, sort of acting gay as he reenacted hitting it or maybe its better to say he just hit it incredibly daintly. Everyone laughed. In the third though Flip was pretty tense, despite the fact it was never that close- I guess he just wanted to finish up.

By the end, at least 3/4 of the stadium had left, including several of my friends (clearly misplaced priorities!) Flip was pretty thoughtful and stuck around forever signing autographs. He actually went to three different areas of the court to sign stuff. Where I was the 2nd area and there were only like three other people around me (yes, my two remaining friends kept away from the edge of the court in a nice and mature non stalking mannter, unlike me!) Anyway, as he approached, I said something like "smile Mark", he ignored it or maybe didn't hear me, then I said "please smile Mark" desperately, and he did through not really looking directly at the camera. I'll see how it turns out.

Got his "autograph" on my ticket stub- It's completely illegible and I have no idea even which side is up, but its still exciting. The two people next to me gave him odd things to sign- one gave a passport and the other gave money from another country and no it wasn't Aussie money which would be kind of cute. Flip said something like "what's up w/ this stuff?" It was funny, I swear. I can't imagine how long this is, so I'll stop now and add anything else I think of later. Feel free to ask any questions if I missed anything. I'm supposed to be going back to see the semis on sat. Hopefully, Mark will get his game straightened up and make it there! It was truly an exciting match to watch, even though he was a little tense and rusty at times. I can't even believe I was so close to him. He is really quite a hottie! Hope yhou enjoyed this marathon post! Catherine

Sybase Update Part 2 Sunday February 14, '99 1:09 am

I know we're all happy Mark's on to the finals but I was really hartbroken to miss seeing him play live tonight! I was there to see the afternoon match which was pretty interesting. The Woodies' doubles match was entertaining and it was really cool to see Mamiit when - He was so genuinely excited. Then they were trying to get everyone out before the evening match was to start and Mark came out w/ Gavin (his trainer) to warm up. I also saw his friend Charlie sitting on the side watching. Mark was wearing a white t-shirt and some bright shorts (like a bright pinkish red) and needless to say was looking good. All I basically got to see was him stretch out and hit a couple of shots. I took a couple of pictures, mostly of my friend that I went with's high - tech camera. Since they were trying to clear us out, we left, thinking we could get more pictures during the match later when we were let back in. Of course as soon as we got outside, they posted notices that Sampras was withdrawing! It really sucked too because not only did we miss seeing Mark but they also wouldn't refund anyone's tickets!! Anyway, I'll try to get a friend to scan the few pics from today and the one's from Tuesdays match and Ilana said she's post them sometime soon. Sorry not more exciting of an update everyone. Good luck to Mark tomorrow! Catherine