Novak Djokovic wins China Open 2009

Who's Nole?
Nole is Novak Djokovic's nickname. He's fondly called by his friends, family and fans as Nole.
Last night at work, we were visited by Nole once more. Knowing that Saturday would be the last night he'd see us perform, he still managed to drop by, have a drink with his friends and enjoy our music for couple of sets. It was so nice of him to stay long even though he has a big match against Marin Cilic today at the China Open 2009. Again, he invited us to watch his match and promised to get us tickets.

We all woke up at 12 noon today and prepared to go to the National Tennis Center for the China Open 2009. What a luck we had since the taxi drive actually didn't know where the National Tennis Center is and brought us to the Olympic venue - The Bird's Nest. We wasted time going in circles, trying to find some traffic guy to give us direction to the Tennis Center. And after 30 wasted minutes, we managed to find it.

As directed by Nole, we again went to Will Call (a counter where the athletes can leave stuff or tickets to their friends) only to find out that there were no tickets left for us. Out of panic and disappointment, I tried to call Nole eventhough I know that he won't answer his phone. But I got a return from him, I answered with my sweetest voice and said, "Hello, Nole?". It's his physiotherapist Miljan and he said that he will send 2 tickets for us to get in. But we were 3 - Marl, Aretha and myself. Luckily, the guys in Will Call gave us entrance tickets to the vicinity and was instructed to wait infront the Center Court, gave me a number to call for the match tickets.

We waited for 20 minutes. We were able to get 2 tickets but it wouldn't be right to leave either one of them outside. And I for sure would want to get in as well. So to be fair, all of us stayed outside the Center Court and watched the match on the large screen - until the match was stopped and delayed because of the weather. What a luck!

We ate pizza, potato wedges, and Coke while waiting for the match to start again. And a funny thing happened. I was sooo in a hurry to pee that I've mistakenly entered men's toilet! LOL. It took quite a while for me to notice the urinals on the side as I headed directly to the cubicles. When I realized that I was in the wrong toilet, I turned back to go out but a young Chinese policeman came in, unbuckling his belt. When he saw me, his face turned white and I was also stunned by his presence. I then said, "Dui bu zhi, deng sha!" (I'm sorry, wait!). And he also followed me outside to check if he's also in the correct toilet. I was laughing sooooo much when he gestured a sign of relief by touching his chest. Hahaha! I swear that was the funniest bit that happened to me and that was the first time that I ever entered a Men's toilet. The reaction on his face was really priceless. :-)



Anyway, after 2 hours of waiting, the match has finally restarted. The crowd went crazier and excited this time around. The seat that we got were in the same section but different rows. And I was unfortunate to be surrounded by Cilic fans with matching Croatian flag. And I was there, the No.1 fan of Djokovic clapping everytime he'd get a point. The game went so intense especially when it came to the last part. And I was cheering aloud while the Cilic fans kept quiet. It was a well-played game and Cilic played very well, too.

But, of course, Nole played the best and he surely deserved to win this year China Open. And yes, I will always be his No.1 fan forever...

WALANG KOKONTRA! :-)

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