My Thursday at SAP Open began with the Ladies Luncheon, where Justin Gimelstob performed emcee duties – a big hit with the ladies, I must say. He picked our brains re: what to give his wife for their first Valentine’s Day as husband and wife – dude, you can’t go wrong with diamonds.
Then John Isner made his appearance and won the ladies over with his tale of a Valentine gift gone awry. Seems he sent a lovely bouquet to his girlfriend – but, um, he provided an incorrect address for said girlfriend. He ended up getting a call from an irate big-city florist who made John’s romantic gesture happen, but now John owes him big-time. Happy Valentine’s Day, ya’ big softie.
The food was delish and the wine did flow (though not much for me – I’m a margarita kinda gal) and then it was off to watch my first match of the day, Malisse v. Ebden.
Xavier Malisse d. Matthew Ebden 5/7, 7/5, 7/6 (1)
X-man was Cap’n Crankypants today, and he wasn’t shy about making it known with mumbling, grumbling and a few F-bombs sprinkled in to add a little spice, apparently because he felt there were dead spots in the court. But it could also be because he’s feeling a little under the weather: he requested the medic, who had X-Man open wide & say ahhhh, then palpated the glands in his neck. (Ryan Harrison mentioned similar symptoms following his 1st round loss. DOB makes mental note to wash hands thoroughly and cough into her elbow – standard cootie containment protocol.) Ebden did his Scrappy-Doo best, but X-man moves on to kvetch in the next round, where he’ll face Isner.
Steve Johnson d. Tim Smyczek 6/3, 6/3
With very little fuss or drama, He Who Brought Down Dr. Ivo defeated He Who Brought Down Fer, and he did it in just under an hour. One American falls, one American advances to face Haas.
Sam Querrey d. Lleyton Hewitt 7/6 (6), 1/6, 7/6 (4)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ cover of “Love Rollercoaster” was looping through my mind during this match, as momentum kept shifting back and forth. Rusty owned Sam in the 2nd, but in the 1st & 3rd set TBs, he was the one who blinked, DFing it away in the end. Sam advances to take on Falla.
Milos Raonic d. Michael Russell 6/2, 7/5
This match result is about what I’d expected, except…Russell in his muscle shirt (yellow & black, reminded me of the Killer Bees skits from SNL’s Belushi days) took several more games off Milos than I’d anticipated. Props to Russell for being no slouch himself in the serve department and for giving it his all till the bitter end. Milos continues his quest for the 3-peat when he faces off against Denis Istomin, his opponent in last year’s SAP Open championship match.
And that was it for the DOB. After a day of Gimelstob waxing romantic, wine (needed more wine, methinks) and several TBs, it was time for me to get some beauty sleep, so I missed the incredible doubles match between the Bryan Bros and Hewitt & Matosevic. The Bryan Bros are out after a hard-fought 3 set – I really didn’t see that one coming. Hats off to the victors – hope it took some of the sting out of Rusty’s singles loss a few hours earlier.
G’night, y’all – the DOB is heading for sweet slumber.
Check out the order of play for Day 7 
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