Last weekend I had the opportunity through the United States Tennis Organization to attend the Davis Cup Quarterfinal Tie between the United States and Croatia. Despite the US team losing 3-2 to the Croatians it was the most memorable Davis Cup experience out of the three times I have attended.
The event was hosted at Tualitan Hill Tennis Center in Beaverton, OR. A tennis center where I have played some of my most memorable matches representing the Western Washington University Tennis on Campus team. It is also one of only four times that a Davis Cup match has been hosted at a public facility which in itself is pretty special.
I as also able to see Jack Sock, one of my favorite players, win what could be one of the biggest matches of his career against Marin Cilic who is currently the 12th best player in the world. The match went an exciting five sets with Sock coming back from two sets down to win 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Needless to say Sock was ecstatic to pull out this win for his country, and I was just as excited to watch.
Most of all this Davis Cup weekend was so special was because of the intimacy of the arena and the(somewhat) special access I had to it. Since I was technically there as a staff of the USTA I was able to enter the grounds early. That coupled with the fact that the stadium was smaller that most high school football stadium I was able to get really close to the top professionals in the game. I had the opportunity to watch Cilic, Isner, Coric, Sock, and the Bryan Brothers warm up from less that 20 feet. Needless to say that doesn’t happen every day.
All three of these things combined with a great atmosphere and good tennis made it a weekend I will not soon forget. I was also able to snap some pretty incredible pictures which you can see on my Instagram.
candersontennis 