{"id":1295,"date":"2011-01-07T10:20:53","date_gmt":"2011-01-07T15:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/?p=1295"},"modified":"2011-12-05T06:18:07","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T11:18:07","slug":"tennis-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis Anyone?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As a surprise gift for landing a job, Megan gave me some tickets to the 2010 Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi.  Taking place only a few minutes from our apartment, this three day tournament over New Year&#8217;s Eve weekend brought together six of the world&#8217;s best to slug it out.<\/p>\n<p>We were fortunate to get some pretty good seats.  On Thursday night, we saw some opening round action (Tsonga vs. Soderling).  The next afternoon, we saw Soderling take on Roger Federer &#8211; maybe the best player of all time &#8211; from even better seats. <\/p>\n<p>Having been to many other tennis facilities, I can say that this tournament and facilities were well run and a testament of Abu Dhabi&#8217;s determination to make itself a world-class destination for not just business, but entertainment.  We were glad to be a part of it.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-1295 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/101_2409\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/101_2409-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1368\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1368'>\n\t\t\t\tWelcome to Zayed Sports City &#8211; only a 10 minute drive from our flat\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/101_2380\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/101_2380-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1367\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1367'>\n\t\t\t\tThe 6 contenders for the Mubadala World Championship\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/101_2458\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/101_2458-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1372\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1372'>\n\t\t\t\tWhat tournament would be complete without a giant tennis ball?\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/101_2411\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/101_2411-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1369\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1369'>\n\t\t\t\tThree great champions!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/101_2374\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/101_2374-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1366\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1366'>\n\t\t\t\tA view from our Thursday night seats\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/101_2476\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/101_2476-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1383\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1383'>\n\t\t\t\tRoger Federer was THIS close!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/101_2434\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/101_2434-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1371\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1371'>\n\t\t\t\tRobin Soderling serves&#8230;he played well, just not well enough\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/101_2498\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/101_2498-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1375\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1375'>\n\t\t\t\tMegan, with a victorious Federer in the background\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/101_2497\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/101_2497-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1374\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1374'>\n\t\t\t\tI was yelling out a challenge to Roger, but he pretended not to hear me\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>We had some pretty great seats for both days.  The first video shows the view from our Thursday night seats for the Tsonga vs. Robin Soderling match.  The 2nd video is from our New Year&#8217;s Eve seats.<\/p>\n<p><object width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/fFNWsReVGA8?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/fFNWsReVGA8?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p><object width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/ZR9JFJtqN-o?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/ZR9JFJtqN-o?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a surprise gift for landing a job, Megan gave me some tickets to the 2010 Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi. Taking place only a few minutes from our apartment, this three day tournament over New Year&#8217;s Eve weekend brought together six of the world&#8217;s best to slug it out. We were fortunate&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/tennis-anyone\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[24,15,43],"class_list":["post-1295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture","category-video","tag-events","tag-out-and-about","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1295"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3425,"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295\/revisions\/3425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tuckers.cc\/brian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}