Chennai Open - India's premier ATP tournament

Pankaj and I had made plans to watch Chennai Open around 3 months ago. We asked some of our friends, they agreed. We arranged for the tickets and booked the hotel for 2 nights, as we planned to watch only semi-finals and finals. So, after a lot of changes to the plan, we finally decided that we three, I, Makhi and Pankaj, will be going by Makhi's beloved Santro.
Finally, Saturday the 5th came. We had planned to get up at 6 am in the morning and leave Bangalore by 7 and Makhi was going to wake us. But, Makhi felt his blanket too cozy to wake up and eventually we left Bangalore at 9:00. We took golden quadrilateral route and hit outskirts of Chennai at aound 2:30. After 2 hours of frustrating drive we reached to the SDAT (The place where Chennai Open is held).
As, the matches were starting at 5:00, we thought of viewing the whole academy. We went to the practice courts and saw Ratiwatana brothers practicing. And right in front of the practice courts was the entrance for the players and VIPs. We saw a lot of fans there waiting for the players to get the autographs. Mario Cilic came and girls ran after him. A cameraman and interviewer came from 9X tv and they asked for our views on the Australian Open. Suddenly a car arrived and as we were in the process of figuring out which player is this, either Rafael Nadal or is he Mikhail Youzhny, our hopes were dashed as he was none other than Charu Sharma in pink tie and pink shirt. People ran for taking his autograph and he even refused to some people. What a shame to be refused for an autograph from Charu Sharma.
Clocks were hitting 5, so we left for our seats. The stadium was full of fans, all were shouting the names of their favorite players. We took some refreshments and waited for the match to begin. Youzhny and Cilic came and they both played well. But, Youzhny won the match easily. Now, we were waiting for the match of the day Moya vs Nadal.
The spaniards arrived. We had a feeling that Nadal will overpower one of his mentors. Finally the match begun.
First set was full of great baseline rallies, great serving from Moya and competitiveness from Nadal. There were no breaks of serves, so the set went into tie-break. There were lots of incorrect calling from the linesmen. As a result of this and Great play by Moya, he won the first set.
The girl sitting in the row in front of us, a huge Nadal fan, was frightened at the loss of the first set. She turned and begged Pankaj, "You are a Nadal fan. Please cheer for him." To this Pankaj replied, "I am a tennis fan. :D" The girl was shocked. I burst into laughter when i saw her face. I consoled her not to worry that Nadal will win.
The second set started and it was more of the same as the first. But, Nadal broke Moya in the starting but eventually got broken towards the end of the set. The second set as the first went into the tie-break. In the initial points the referee made a blunder and awarded Moya a point even when the ball was clearly out. Nadal was frustated and handed Moya a 4-0 lead. Then we saw who is Rafael Nadal, hitting unbelievable shots, not even reaching to the shots which would have been winners by a huge margin, but hitting winners. The whole crows was thrilled at the competitiveness of the players. Moya was playing as better as I have seen him play. And little god, as Pankaj calls Nadal, was in supreme form. The way he saved the match point and went on to win the tie-break can not be described. Our eyes were wide open at watching the level of play and shots that we had seen only on the television.
Every person in the stadium was thrilled and we were obliged to watch such a match live from our naked eyes. Third set was also the same good stuff. We thought that now the force is with Nadal and he will win the third set very easily, but Moya showed his grit, served well and hit some unbelievable winners to break Nadal early. Finally he reached to the match point. Every one thought now is the time for the match to end, but Nadal had other ideas. He broke Moya with a ripping back hand. This set as the other two also went into the tie-break. This match was going on for 3hrs and 45 mins. Finally, Moya showed signs of aging and tiredness and after an applaud able performance he lost the tie-break giving Nadal the win (6-7, 7-6, 7-6) in 3 hrs and 54 mins.
The whole crowd were singing and shouting the praises for both the players as they showed a lot of grit, a lot of great shots, a lot of enthusiasm and sportsmanship. Moya said that this was the best match he ever played and Nadal shared the same views. And we also agreed to these players.
After witnessing such a great match we took the dinner and went to sleep, hoping to see the same in the final.
We had a lunch buffet in little italy, it was too good. After some rest we went to the stadium. As we arrived earlier today also, we went to the practice courts in the hope of seeing a player. But, no one was there. When we lost all hope and we were going to our seats we saw Nadal coming, looking as fit as ever and a smile on his face. We took some refreshments and took our seats.
We hoped that this match will as entertaining as the earlier one. The stadium was full and all the people singing and shouting. Finally the players arrived.
The match begun. Youzhny was looking very fresh but Nadal was looking worn out after the last night's match. So, he lost this match very dreadfully.
So, after the disappointing match, we thought of driving back to Bangalore the same day. Makhi agreed after a lot of arguments and we left for Bangalore at around 8:30 in the night. Makhi was driving very fast (>110 kmph). Well this is not fast enough but yes for Makhi this is very fast. May be this was because we were listening to Himesh ;). He drove safely and we reached our homes at around 2 in the morning. We went to sleep and woke up late on Monday.
Well, I remember this trip as one of my favorite trips. We had a pleasureful drive, watched highest quality tennis, ate pretty good food and enjoyed a lot. And at last, but not the least listened to Himesh. I hope such great tennis tournaments are held in India more often and we get a chance to watch world class players like Nadal, Youzhny, Moya, etc. We also hope maybe some day we watch the final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.