The non-Asian kids on the Concordia tennis team were asked to be ball boys/girls for the Shanghai Masters. The kids did two weekend tournaments leading up to the Masters. They had to learn how to be ball boys/girls. Emersyn was given a full outfit with shoes to wear. She worked the Masters on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. She made 100rmb ($16) for each day she worked. The real pay was watching some amazing tennis.
On Friday, my friend, Pam, was at the Masters. She text me when Emersyn was on the court. Emersyn was working the Federer/Benneteau match. We couldn’t find the Shanghai Masters on our tv so we streamed it through the computer. It was painfully slow, but fun to see Emersyn.
A couple screen shots of Emersyn on Friday.
Emersyn arrived home around 11:30pm to be in bed by midnight. It is going to be a long weekend. She takes her homework with her to work on it when she is not working matches. She has three tests to make up and play to write. She has never written a play, but writing is easy for her!
On Saturday, we sent Emersyn off at 10:15am. We left at 10:30am to take Eleri to tennis lesson in Jinqiao and Roxi to an audition for the school play. She has a 3 minute scene to chase a boy across the stage. They needed a big dog to be a “junk yard” dog for the play, “Stand by Me”. The dog needs to be trained. Roxi falls into the trained part – not so sure about the “junk yard” dog…Sager would have been perfect! We left school at 12:15 to get to the Masters at 1:30pm – a bit late as the first match began at 1pm, but we needed to fit the morning activities into the day.
Jim has been to the Masters a couple time with Hayworth company. He took Emersyn one year. The stadium is WAY out in Puxi, but very cool. The retrackable roof makes for some great tennis indoors/outdoors. It was a beautiful day to let the sunshine in!
The Bryan Brothers were playing doubles at center court. We grabbed some popcorn on the way in as Eleri was hungry.
Doubles are fun to watch as the action is fast.
The Bryan Brothers won in two sets in about 2 hours time. It was time to find a late lunch. We grabbed some Element Fresh and headed outside.
Outside the Stadium, the area is set up with food, games and merchandise. The outside courts are located behind the buildings. It is a very impressive tennis arena.
We were lucky to find a tables near the Heineken tennis ball. After lunch, Eleri was ready to check out the games. We started with the Heineken tennis ball. Eleri couldn’t play as you had to be over 18 years old. Jim and I played. I was able to win a water bottle (for Eleri) and free beers! The only problem was we couldn’t take the beers out of the Heineken ball. Eleri had the idea of putting my open beer (which was for Jim) in the water bottle box – she is her Dad!
I was worried Eleri would be bored at tennis all day, but there was plenty to keep her happy between matches.
Next, we were off the the Coca-cola area to take to take photos with the tennis warriors!
Even the merchandise area had fun items for us to play with and take photos. We purchased Eleri a giant tennis ball. Emersyn bought one a few years ago and it was the one thing Eleri wanted. She bought the last one as the supplies were running out! Good thing as she would have been so disappointed!
At 3:30pm, another doubles match was playing on the outside court. By the time we arrived, the stadium was full as it is a smaller court. We passed on trying to get in and had fun taking photos in the open area outside the Stadium. Later, Emersyn told us she worked this match the full 2 hours.
At 4:30pm, we made our way back to our seats in the stadium for the singles match of Lopez/Simone. The roof was open more in the stadium.
Simone won in 2 sets in about 2 hours.
Eleri was ready for the outdoor entertainment of dinner and more games. Since more people have arrived, there was no table to be found. We found a curb to eat dinner.
Eleri noticed the fun activities along the outdoor courts we missed during the first break – a must to see it all!
This is Eleri’s favourite game. If you get 5 out 5 balls in, you get a giant tennis ball. Eleri wanted to win. At the earlier break, she had thrown 2 in balls earlier and she just needed one more to win (kids only needed 3). It was a tough game so no free giant tennis ball for us!
At 8pm, the last match of the night between Federer/Djokovic. The stadium was FULL.
Emersyn worked the second half of the match. She was in the corner below us so a little hard to get a good photo of her.
Emersyn generally works the back court. However, when they chase balls, they go to the nearest position. Sean generally works the net. Emersyn prefers the back court as the net is hard work.
Emersyn handing balls to Djokovic. Emersyn said his coach was above her head so he was looking over and his coach was yelling all the time. She never knew when if he wanted a ball or was looking for guidance from his coach.
Emersyn handing balls to Federer. She said he was easier to work with as he would nod when he wanted a ball.
Federer won in 2 sets in about 2 hours…the going match time and sets for the day. We found our Yanlord kids to find Mr. Nie…people everywhere! Mr. Nie found us. Roxi had been “hanging” with Mr. Nie all day as it was too long to leave her in the kitchen. We arrived home around 11pm. It was a long day, but a fun one.
On Sunday, Emersyn left for her last day at the Masters. She worked the Bryan Brothers double match, but we couldn’t find it on the computer. She also worked the very last 20 minutes of the Federer/Simone match. Federer won in 2 sets, but all the sets went in over time to make it a close game.
A fun experience being a ball girl for the Shanghai Masters!