Ruben Bemelmans on the left, Xavier Malisse on the right.
It was another amazing day at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens. Every time I turned around I saw old friends and new friends. We were @ credentials with 10sballs friend Austin Karosi who just flew in from Singapore. Great to see him back home in America. We turned around and We met Victoria Duvall. She is adorable. We talked about the mixed doubles at the US Open, she played with our buddy Donald Young. She said it was her first mixed dubs at the pro level and she almost got hit by the male opponent.(Gussy Moran always loved to play mixed with Pancho Gonzales but she said he always took it easy on the female on the other side of the net , served softer, etc) The credential check in was being done by tourney volunteer Gudrun Farr who is there 26 years this year. She puts in 18 hour days and always with a smile on her face.
We ran into super agent Max Eisenbud. What a great guy. Best agent of his generation. The harder he works the luckier he gets. (sorry that’s an old line ..but true!) Yes, he keeps a lot of balls in the air. He has a lot of high profile clients including Li Na and the one and only Maria Sharapova who is in a league of her own in off court endorsements. Sven Groeneveld our friend for life is Maria’s coach, it’s a great team that Maria has formed. All “Supermen” in her camp that she calls family. FYI her Sugarpova candy has a new partnership with Pinkberry frozen yougurt. Very cool.
The highlight of the day was hanging out with the Belgians. We saw our number one friend of the site (he proudly wore our patches for two years) The X Man. Xavier Malisse. He has decided to try his hand at coaching. He is here with the talented Ruben Bemelmans and this week he is also helping out Kirsten Flipkens also known as Flip or Flipper. She is still holding on to a top 20 ranking and heading towards the top 10. We still wish “X” would play dubs but he has played a long time and needs a break. While the Belgians were practicing Ana Ivanovic was on the next court. She did a heavy workout to a full crowd. She was doing serving target practice and every time she knocked over the empty cans the crowd cheered. It was great fun.
The surprise of the day was coming around a corner and running into the great Auzzie Jason Stoltenberg. He lives in Melbourne with his lovely wife and ex player Andrea and their two beautiful children. He still looks like the young man who we saw beat Goran Ivansevic @ Wimby on the old court one. It was a great court. Not that the new court one isn’t fantastic. But it’s missing that feeling of intimacy and history. The match will be one I will never forget. It’s been over 10 years since we have seen each other. But it sure was nice to run into him. Greg Rusedski was running around again. They could have a great 35 and over event with the coaches on site. Rusedski, Peter Fleming, Jason Stoltenberg, Xavier Malisse just to name a few.
Topics: 10sballs, Ana Ivanovic, BNP Paribas Open, Donald Young, Francisco Resendiz, Goran Ivansevic, Greg Rusedski, Gussy Moran, Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Maria Sharapova, Max Eisenbud, Pancho Gonzales, Peter Fleming, Pinkberry, Ruben Bemelmans, Sugarpova, sven groeneveld, Tennis, US Open, Victoria Duval, Xavier Malisse
BNP Paribas Sunday Wrap & Ana Ivanovic Thrills Fans On Practice Courts & More By Pancho Resendiz- http://t.co/eJhZNXOZFB #BNPParibas #tennis