Day 10: Sponsors, Coworker Bonding time, Propaganda

Isner at change over.

As the tournament progresses we are able to catch a few more matches than usual--which is so fun! We had time to sit in on Isner v. Kohlshreiber on Moon Court. 

Sitting behind the line judge at Moon Court. 

Our seats were great—first row right behind the line judge. The weather is noticeably smoggy today, and it feels pretty humid unless you catch a breeze.  It’s like a fog over everything, and it even lingers into the tennis center. 

Katie and I watching a match at Lotus.

The sun was out for a while though, and it was a great day to watch tennis. We walked around in our free time between matches and saw some of the sponsor booths where a few of the players have autograph signings and various sponsor promotions. 

Smart Car outside Lotus

People drink these beers at 9 am, I've seen it.

Kappa's booth.

Today there was a big press conference for the president and chairmen of the China Open and the WTA.  We also had press for some of my favorites, Vera Zvonareva and Caroline Wozniacki. Both had tough matches today which we had a chance to watch in stadium.

It was another long but great day at the tennis center, and a few of our Chinese friends coaxed us into going to a place called “Propaganda” which is in an area that a lot of international students go to. We all ended up going and it was quite the co-worker bonding experience.

Dancing at Propaganda.

We had a great time! After Propaganda, our friend Flora, a Beijing student volunteer from the China Open, showed us a great local spot called "Lush" that we stopped at for a burger before heading back to our hotel to get some sleep.

 It was nice to have a break after a hard day's work..

Day 8: Walking with Purpose

Watching Isner about to beat Yang at Lotus.

ATP and WTA play is in full force, with the men in the first round as the women enter the second.  Several big players and returning champions were out yesterday in the first round, including last year’s winner Svetlana Kuznetsova.

It’s another completely gorgeous day, and Isner’s up first against T.H. Yang in one of the first matches of the day on Lotus Court.  After our meeting with the ATP/WTA officers to confirm our requests, we snuck out to Lotus to watch a few sets.

Getting ready for Yang's serve.

Nailed it.

 Where do I send my resume for the Umbrella Holder position?

The tension is rising among some of the top contenders, but mostly everyone has been very patient with press even after a loss. I’m officially hooked on tennis, if I wasn’t before—now that I’m getting to know each player I’m taking every match so seriously! I feel like I’m the one out there.

Prepping for the day! Once the matches start there's no time for second guessing.

I was worried about the volume of media requests we had coming in yesterday, but everything went pretty smoothly, and before I knew it we were down to the last match between Kirilenko and Dulko! Things get crazy at times and I need to know that our schedule is tight and the media is prepped and ready when the players get off the court. 

 All of the multi-tasking I did as business manager/student/intern last semester paid off--I'm used to doing a million things at once for extended amounts of time! I think I've easily made over 500 phone calls in the past few days. I love working with media and I'm learning a lot from watching the officers prep the players for each interview.


 Some are definitely more skilled than others at handling tricky or private questions. There was even a "rookie" that came with us for Vera Zvonereva's press (who is a pro) so that she could learn how to handle everything. 

At the CCTV flash interview backdrop waiting to get a player from the tunnel off Lotus.

The other girl I work with also ran a half-marathon--and we were joking that we are using our endurance training for this job--I can count on one hand the amount of times I sat down over the whole 12+ hours were we there!  We had to stretch when we got home from all of the running around we do--we basically circle the entire stadium continuously locating media and walking players to press.




 No complaints from me!!!

Day 7: Be Cool.

Today we jumped right into the action after a quick press meeting. We arranged press schedules for every WTA match today and handled media requests as they came through and changed during matches.

View of Lotus Stadium from the player's practice courts. 

Time seemed to fly—we were literally handling all media from flash interviews right out of Lotus stadium, to press conferences and one on one sessions.  After each  match I confirm the press times with the player and their tour reps, then when it’s time I escort the player and officers to the correct venues.

We do six different types of media interviews, and it is amazing to be in the studio for meetings with the top tennis players in the world.

Sitting at the press conference desk a few days ago! Couldn't resist. 

Today in the player’s area we saw many of the ATP players preparing for their first matches. John Isner, the wild card for the men’s draw, was there along with Djokovic and Soderling.  Isner walked up to the officer I was talking to and gave him a high five on his way to the practice courts. I think I came up to his waist. But he looked at me.

Isner getting serious. 

We really got a feel for the personal side of these tours— especially from a media relations standpoint. It was tense walking players who lost, especially for past champions like Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was beat out by a qualifier today in the first rounds. 

Svetlana won the China Open in 2009 and 2006, but is out today. 

At the end of the day Daniela Hantuchova, who in person looks like an impossibly beautiful model,  lost to Hercog, and even though she must have been very upset she was a good sport about fulfilling all of the media requests.  I felt her pain as I dragged her to her CCTV interview and they asked her to "Say Bye Bye to Beijing." 

Na Li is a huge celebrity in China--and is adorable in person!

The Chinese media were most excited for their press conference with Chinese “superstar” Li Na.  Other than Sharapova, her press conference was much looked forward to by the local media, who were so excited to see her after her win. We had to keep cutting the questions short or they would have kept her all night!

In all we left about 10:30 pm with some great memories of the first day. I can't even begin to describe how cool it was to hang out with the players. They are normal people and it was awesome to be able to help them get through press after matches--I made Kirilenko take my kleenax to her press conference.  I loved seeing how press and media work with sporting events, especially since I get to be right in there communicating with both sides. 

Things are going to be even more hectic tomorrow--can't wait!