Not-so-posh tennis

Yesterday Torsten and I attended the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. We bought tickets about a month ago to both semifinal matches, one at noon and the other at 7 p.m. I don't know what the hell we were thinking, buying tickets for a midday outdoor event taking place in August. It was top-seeded Andy Roddick against seven-seed Ivo Karlovic, which should have been a great and enjoyable match to watch. Instead, we sat there boiling in the two p.m. sun, as Torsten desperately stuck cardboard fans in my shirt straps and slathered me with SPF 30 in an effort to prevent me from a premature death due to skin cancer. I was trying to watch the match and ignore the pounding heat, but I kept being distracted by the moaning next to me about how much it was going to suck to be a single dad and how sad our future child was going to be when his mother died in his childhood. Just because I wasn't wearing a hat and a shoulder-covering t-shirt like SOME people.

Anyway, the 7 p.m. game was much more enjoyable. The sun had set and the contest was much more evenly matched. It was Gael Monfils, the ninth seed, against John Isner, the wild card. Monfils is considered the better player, but each set went to a tiebreaker and Isner ended up winning (though he lost today in the finals to Roddick in straight sets). But it is amazing what a difference the weather makes. I realize that I should have known that already, but damn.

Also, I'm confused about tennis matches. I thought tennis was a chichi upper-class sport. So why did they make us sit on hard metal bleachers in the blazing sun? Where were the cushions and the awnings? And why was all the available food a) unhealthy and b) gross?

I'm just saying. I thought the event would be catering to the upper crust, and yet you can get better food at Nationals games. And that is not a compliment to the cuisine at RFK.