Legg Mason Bound...Maybe

Hi Guys. I know my posts are usually long and thought out, but it's about 9:20pm in Boston and I'm at the airport waiting for my perpetually delayed flight to leave for Washington, DC so I can go see the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Anyway, the good news is it looks like I'll get there, the bad news, I've shelled out a lot of money to stay in the W Hotel (where the players stay during the tournament,) and am missing most of my first night. Since I have to sit here for another few hours, I thought I might share some of my thoughts with my readers, if they actually exist.

Putting aside the slight set back concerning my JetBlue flight out of Boston Logan, I am really excited to get down to DC for the Legg Mason tournament. I chose to fly out for the first weekend instead of finals weekend in hopes of catching more matches. Luckily, the DC tournament starts main draw play on Sunday instead of Monday. So, I will be attending the qualifiers and one day of main draw play. While the top 16 players have byes in the first round, I'm hoping maybe a few of them will turn up early to practice. Plus, I could always run into someone in the elevator at the W. When I attended the Estoril Open in May, I stayed at the absolutely gorgeous players' hotel and ended up sitting right next to a few at breakfast. I'm fairly certain doubles specialist, Robert Lindstedt started to recognize me for the amount of times we ended up in the same place. I have to add that this was not on purpose. If I was going to stalk a player, it would be someone significantly more famous than Robert Lindstedt. For me, it is entertaining enough to share the same place as an incredible tennis player, I feel no need to bother them. I am no tennis groupie. I believe there should be some limits if you're going to approach a player, and try to do so only at the actual tournament or if they are clearly not busy.

Andrea's Rules for Respecting Boundaries:
1. Never try to talk to a player during a meal. How would you like it if someone interrupted your dinner? These players should be allowed to have private lives too. The only exception to this rule could occur if the player is seated alone and makes the first contact. For instance, if the player is sitting at the table next to you in a restaurant, and asks you to pass the salt from your table, this is an invitation to begin some kind of conversation. He started it.
2. Don't treat the players like you know them when you meet them. It's weird. No matter how much you read about them on the internet, they are not your friends. You may address them by first name, but don't get weird. I may scream at my TV like Andy Roddick is my friend, but I'm aware that we do not actually know each other.
3. Don't try to butter up their entourage. When I was in Rotterdam for the ABN AMRO tournament, there was a girl who attended nearly every practice session and accosted the player at the end. As if this wasn't bad enough, she actually found a player's mom and started chatting her up. I was close enough to hear some of it and the girl played this woman until she would introduce her to her son. This is creepy, bordering on insane.
4. Never break out a camera if you are less than 10 feet from the player and haven't asked their permission. This rule is void if you're on tournament grounds and willing to deal with the awkwardness. A way around this is a camera with excellent zoom. If you're dead set on taking a picture at dinner, at least pretend you're playing with your blackberry or iphone and do it discreetly. I wouldn't, but that's up to you.
5. If you do not know the player's name, do not ask them for a picture or autograph. This is awkward.

Well, that's enough of my ramblings for tonight. I'll check back in tomorrow, hopefully in a better mood.