Edwards Adventure in Paris: French Open

As the French Open approached, we wanted to go but figured it was sold out and that it would be difficult to get tickets. Fortunately, the French Open has an official site where people that can't make it are able to resell their tickets at face value. This works very well but you have to act fast as there must be tons of people watching for tickets to come on sale and quickly jumping on them. Earlier this week I started periodically monitoring the site, looking for tickets to either the men's or women's semifinals. They occasionally came up for sale but I couldn't get to them fast enough before somebody else got them. And then, when I was finally first to claim a pair, my credit card company rejected the purchase (probably because I was making a purchase while in Dubai through a Swiss company that is headquartered in London for an event in Paris). But I had success a couple hours later and bought two tickets to the Philippe Chatrier court at Roland-Garros on Thursday June 6th for the Mixed Doubles final and the two Women's Singles semifinals.

The first match we saw was the Mixed Doubles final, with Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) and Frantisek Cermak (Czech Republic) beating Kristina Mladenovic (France) and Daniel Nestor (Canada). After that match, we left the court and went out to explore the Roland-Garros grounds while we waited for the first women's semifinals match.

It was sunny and hot so I spotted a side court that didn't have any activity on it and just a few people standing in a shady area. Erin and I went in there to get out of the direct sun. Just a few minutes later, Serena Williams and her entourage stepped onto the court for a practice round. What a treat it was to be so close and just among a few people watching the #1 ranked woman -- and one of the best of all-time -- warming up. It was fun too to see the amount of effort required by her hitting partner to keep up with her.

The adjoining court had the #1 ranked man -- Novak Djokovic -- also warming up so I squeezed through the crowds there to catch a little of his practice too.

We then went back to the Philippe Chatrier court to watch the women's semifinal between #2 ranked Maria Sharapova (Russia) and #3 ranked Victoria Azarenka (Belarus). Unlike the Mixed Doubles final, the court was packed for this match-up. The two women were evenly matched with Sharapova eventually winning 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 to move on to the finals on Saturday.

After the second set in the Sharapova-Azarenka match, the thunderclouds that had begun to roll in towards the start of it finally opened up and it poured big, warm raindrops. The court emptied, a tarp was put out, and a 30 minute rain delay ensued. Unfortunately, I had to get back to pick up the kids after school so was only able to see three games of the final set before leaving. Prior to the rain delay, I had been hoping to catch the entire match plus some of the other women's semifinal. Oh well, I was still very happy with what I was able to see.

Erin stayed and watched the other semifinal between #1 ranked Serena Williams (US) and #5 ranked Sara Errani (Italy). This match was a blow-out as Williams beat Errani 6-0, 6-1 to move on to the finals where she ended up beating Sharapova to win the 2013 Women's Singles Championship.

We both felt so fortunate to be able to go to the French Open. It is another reason to return to Paris in the springtime.