…we decided to book three days of Eastbourne tennis for 2024: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Tuesday Evening
On the Tuesday evening we met Linda Wrobel (formerly Linda Phillips) for dinner. Linda lives in Bexhill, which, me being a died-in-the-wool Londoner, seemed to me to have no proximity whatsoever to Eastbourne. But last year, when I posted about our Eastbourne trip on Facebook, Linda messaged me wondering what the hell Janie and I were doing in Eastbourne without contacting and meeting Linda!
Linda first came to our Airbnb to have a look around, then we wandered round to the same Thai place that Janie and I had tried the previous year.
So deep in conversation were we, that we completely forgot top take pictures of each other or of the food. Here is a picture of Janie with the food from the previous year.
It was a very enjoyable evening with Linda.
After that, three days of tennis and picnics.
We took an infeasible number of photographs on those three days, which could do with some editing into a highlights album. If you like canonical, the 200 or so pictures are in the following album:
Wednesday
On the Wednesday we saw:
Sebastian Baez v Miomir Kecmanovic
Jelena Ostapenko v Katie Boulter;
Emma Raducanu v Jessica Pegula;
Taylor Fritz v Thiago Seyboth Wild (actually we just watched the first five games of that last one).
Here are some sample pictures from the Wednesday:
Baez servesKecmanovic servesBarrista serves
It was a very hot day, that Wednesday, hence the iced coffees quite early in the day.
The Boulter bounceThe Pegula poseThe Raducanu Racket MarchFritz in the FrameThe Cyborg Wildebeest
Thursday
On the Thursday we saw:
Flavio Cobolli v Billy Harris,
Jasmine Paolini v Katie Boulter,
Daria Kasatkina v Emma Raducanu,
Taylor Fritz v Juncheng Shang (again we just watched the first five games of that last one).
Cooler and breezier, it was, on the Thursday and the Friday.
Colourful Flavio“Cousin” Billy grey in contrastPocket-Rocket PaoliniDashing DariaHark At these TwoWe can’t wait to see Juncheng Shang (depicted) play Zhizhen Zhang (who we saw last year), if only to hear umpires and commentators trying to distinguish between the names.
Friday
On the way to the ground, Janie took some pictures along the front. She even made me park up so she could photograph the bandstand
On the Friday we saw:
Leylah Fernandez v Madison Keys,
Daria Kasatkina v Jasmine Paolini,
Max Purcell v Billy Harris,
Leylah……you’ve got me on my (Madison) KeysJasmine & Daria chat with Kader “Barry White” NouniGiving the serve MaxEastbourne seagull – conspicuously indifferent to tennis and to being photographed.
In short, we had a really great time in Eastbourne.
…we decided to give Eastbourne International a try this year. That idea proved to be a resounding success. We loved the place and the tennis and everything about our short break.
If you prefer some words and a small sample of the pictures, don’t click, just read/skim on.
Sunday 25 June 2023 – Travel, Taking Root and Thai Grub
We booked an Airbnb house at the Sovereign Harbour end of town – beyond walking distance to the tennis but easy parking when at the house. The cricket & croquet club in Eastbourne runs an event parking arrangement for the tennis tournament that made a great deal of sense for us.
The house is lovely and that area quiet and well provisioned. We stocked up on picnic food at the main Waitrose in Eastbourne as we drove into town, thus we were set for our visits to the ground.
There is a selection of restaurants in the harbour. We chose the Thai one, which was a nice place with “Chinese-oriented Thai food” – i.e. mostly not too spicy and a lot of Chinese-influenced dishes mixed in with the traditional Thai curries.
Monday 26 June 2023 – Eastbourne International Tennis Day One
I was on picnic duties and rose early to make a tempting spread. Hot smoked salmon bagels and chicken sandwiches were the centrepieces that day, if I remember correctly.
We had front row seats on Centre Court that day. We saw:
Tomas Martin Etcheverry v Jeffrey John Wolf;
Shuai Zhang v Harriet Dart,
Daria Kasatkina v Anhelina Kalinina,
Ryan Peniston v Marc-Andrea Huesler.
We cheered for JJ Wolf, who played very wellEtcheverry seemed uncomfortable on grass
We took a stroll after the first set and snapped Maria Camilla Osorio Serrano playing Shelby Rogers on an outer court. It is that sort of place.
Shuai Zhang v Harriet Dart (see above pictures) was probably the match of the day.
After that match, we took another stroll. Janie got a bit groupie-like when she spotted Taylor Fritz just strolling around Devonshire Park.
At least Janie didn’t ask him for a selfie – plenty of people did!
Daria Kasatkina bested Anhelina Kalinina on the day. Try saying that after a few drinks – just as well we weren’t drinkingRyan Peniston came off second best against Marc Huegler.
We took a late afternoon stroll, where we saw Jelena Ostopenko playing doubles on an outer court.
It started to get a bit chilly, so we didn’t stay for the “bonus doubles match” on Centre Court. We’d had a great day of tennis.
We even got to see some cricket as we walked around the cricket ground to get our car.
Janie loved the sun terrace at the back of our little house. It was just a bit too chilly to mull our day over a glass of wine out there, so we mulled indoors instead.
Tuesday 27 June 2023 – Eastbourne International Tennis Day Two
A similar picnic for Day Two; I was still on picnic duty. I say “I”, but actually we have a prima-donna of a picnic chef named Igor who comes to make our picnics when it is my turn. He insists on absolute silence and no-one else coming near the kitchen while he is creating his masterpieces.
The central pieces for this one were smoked trout bagels plus ham and cheese sandwiches.
Janie snapped the Eastbourne front on the way to the ground
We were five rows back on Day Two – arguably a better vantage point unless you are especially keen to be on camera! The selfie on the Flickr link near the top of this piece is from those seats.
We saw:
Liam Broady v Jan Choinski;
Petra Martic v Katie Boulter;
Bernarda Pera v Coco Gauff;
Zhizhen Zhang v Lorenzo Sonego.
We had an early stroll around this day, where we saw, amongst other things, Camilla and her dad training (see headline picture).
Liam and Jan doing battleWere Petra Martic and Katie Boulter going to play dressed like that?…NO!…Certainly not with Alex de Minaur and family looking on!I sneaked a look at Mikael Ymer playing well on Court OneWhile Janie spotted Heather Watson on an outer courtThen back to Centre Court for some Coco (and Bernarda)
The pick of the day’s matches was actually the one from which I expected the least. Zhizhen Zhang is a very promising player but had not really played before on grass, whereas Lorenzo Sonego has shown decent form on the surface.
Sonego looked the part……but Zhang performed brilliantly
That match proved to be a suitable finale to our trip.
We certainly aim to return to Eastbourne again. The people were friendly and the atmosphere at the tournament lacks the corporate glitz and heave-ho of the bigger, more prestigious tournaments. Our style, we felt.
Wednesday 28 June 2023 – Driving Home While Listening To The Lord’s Test
A testing drive, this was, listening to England bowl in cloudy conditions but without the necessary luck/penetration in the second Ashes test match. The next few days were to be Lord’s days for me, but this day was the one day this week where the only live sport was dodging the traffic and the bizarre manoeuvres of other motorists.
Dumbo – tennis and cricket superstar – getting us there and back
Janie was doing so well with the Leamington real tennis crowd at lunch the day before, until she announced that we would be seeing “proper tennis” at Edgbaston Priory the next day. Following a stoney silence, lunch was swiftly over. At least, that’s how I’m choosing to remember it.
Please don’t tell me she said that…
Mercifully, the fellas refrained from reposting with the phrase “girlie tennis”, which I had previously suggested to them would not go down well with Janie.
Anyway – another day, another form of tennis. Lawn tennis. On proper lawns. Quarter finals day at Edgbaston Priory. A blisteringly hot and sunny day. A sun factor and water aplenty day.
Sorana Cirstea
First up – Sorana Cirstea against Donna Vekic. A really good match, this. Such a long match that I even went for a quick walk to top up my water bottle between sets during the first match of the day. Unprecedented.
At Edgbaston Priory you can just wander around and see e.g. doubles on outer courts
At one point during the final set, Donna Vekic threw herself at a wide ball (unsuccessfully), hurtling straight towards our front row position close to the baseline. She stopped at the barrier right in front of me, looked me straight in the eye and emitted the single-word, modern tennis court oath (as described in this performance piece – click here).
“Donna spoke to me”…even if it was an expletive word of one syllable
In the end Sorana Cirstea prevailed 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Fun & friendly post match interview with Sorana Cirstea
Next up, Beatriz Haddad Maia (depicted in headline picture) completing a Round Of 16 match against Magdalena Frech.
While they were warming up, we spotted Camila Giorgi’s mad dad (he’s hard to miss) who was taking a not-particularly-surreptitious look at the other players in the tournament.
Camila’s dad, looking as “Harpo Marx” as ever.
Magdalena Frech
Frech was 4-2 up in the deciding set overnight, but Haddad-Maia took advantage of the overnight break to take the match and progress.
Janie and I then took a break from the heat, as we did a couple of times during that day. We wandered to the bar overlooking Court 1 and took some shade. We also took some iced coffee in the refreshments tent.
When we returned to our seats, the match between Shuai Zhang and Dayana Yastremska was quite advanced. We had caught some of the first set on the screens while sitting in the shade. We then watched the remainder of that match and indeed the remainder of the day’s play live.
Dayana YastremskaShuai Zhang
Shuai won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, over Dayana Yastremska, but it looked far from straightforward and Yastremska still looks like “one to watch” in my book.
The worst of the heat was starting to ease; in any case we stuck around to see the remaining two matches, the first of which being the match between Britain’s Katie Boulter and Simona Halep.
Very watchable, but ultimately doomed, plucky Brit, Katie Boulter
The first set was very watchable but Simona Halep took complete control quite early in the second set to win 6-4, 6-1.
Halep probably still not quite at her best, but good enough on the day
Last up was Beatriz Haddad Maia against Camila Giorgi, which looked on paper to be the best (and potentially closest) match up of the day.
Camila Giorgi……was stretched to the limit by Beatriz
But Camila was not at her best after a strong early start. Beatriz Haddad-Maia winning 6-3, 6-2.
One of the longest days of the year, it was still well light when we got home and we made full use of the garden to have our major picnic as an evening meal, having only taken a minor picnic with us to the ground on such a hot day.
Lovely it was.
We were supposed to do it all again on the Saturday for the semi-finals, but the temperature dropped by 15 degrees and it rained all day. That’s the English summer for you.
But we did have a great meal at Colbeh in the evening – a repeat for Janie of 2017 and a repeat of several visits for me.
