a day with the ultimate tennis goddess

Around end of September, there was a mail from our HR that they'll be giving away tickets for Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo which was sponsored by our company. All we need to do is write a short mail to them and say something about our intranet website. Unfortunately, I read the mail late in the afternoon and the deadline of the promo was over. I then asked my colleague Vivek if he was able to participate since I know he plays tennis and a big fan. He told me that he wasn't interested since it's a woman's match but if I would like to watch I should ask Gap because he just won finals tickets for two! Then I immediately went to him and asked if he already has someone to go with. Then he said, no one yet. I just found out eventually that he invited Vivek first and I was lucky that he declined. :D

Having secured my finals ticket, I then checked out the list of players participating in the game and found that one of them is ultimate tennis goddess Maria Sharapova! I told Vivek that how I wish she could reach the finals so that we can see her in person. He said that it will be unlikely for us to see her because of the other great players competing in the tournament. Maria Sharapova had just came from an injury and had since fallen down in world rankings. Considering the Williams sisters and many top-seeded players, she doesn't stand a chance according to Vivek. Still, me and Gap kept our fingers crossed hoping that Maria would be able to compete in the finals.

Then 2 days before the finals, I checked out the latest news about the tournament. I was a bit ecstatic to find out that Maria is still competing in the quarterfinals and most of the seeded players had already lost! The following day, I learned that she pulled it through to the finals! I showed the news to Vivek and told him that God answered our prayers. He kept on laughing and asked me to give him the ticket instead. It was really fun teasing him that time knowing that we'll be on an awesome treat seeing the tennis goddess Maria Sharapova playing on the next day!

To cut this blog short, I will just let the picture speaks of what happened in the finals match.

Oh my....here comes the goddess...:D

Preparing for opponent's return

A failed service...due to Gap's camera :P

Jelena Jancovic - one of the fittest and toughest tennis player around

Jancovic: "Hey chief, can I still play?"


Sharapova: "Sorry for your wrist injury, it could have been a great match..."


joyful with her victory

Lovely Maria, receiving her 1st tournament championship after 18 months

As an added bonus, there was a doubles finals match featuring Alisa Kleybanova / Francesca Schiavone and Daniela Hantuchová / Ai Sugiyama in which the former team won. Daniela Hantuchová was also a sight to behold despite of not playing on top of her game. It could have been a great exit match for Ai Sugiyama should they have won.

You can watch the finals match of Sharapova and Jancovic here.