Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2012

For the second year we've had the pleasure of seeing the top men's tennis stars duke it out on the courts in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.   This year's top seeds were Nadal, Federer, Tsonga and Monfils.  Kevin attended all five nights of the tournament while I caught four nights of action. 

Khalifa International Tennis Complex is similar to Minute Maid Park in Houston (where the Astros play) in that even the "cheap seats" offer a great view and you still feel fairly close.  This year we scored two nights of VIP seats.  The first seats (which I sat in with our friend Holly and used the zoom lense to find Kevin in the nosebleeds) were at the end of the court, so we avoided the back-and-forth head motion you usually get with tennis.  Depth perception was interesting from this angle and they were great seats.  The next night we had quite possibly the best seats we've ever had at a sporting event ever... right on the serving line.  We think the coaches sat 3 booths over from us, so many of the players shot looks in our direction.  We also caught the many multi-lingual tirades when there was a bad shot.  At the end of Nadal's match he also threw a sweatband in our direction while we weren't watching.  I think we all sensed a cup of water or something wet was floating by, but no... just a sweatband!  The guy in the seats next to us caught it. 

We were able to attend most of the big matches and also had the opportunity to attend the Players' Gala, where we got a ball signed by Tsonga (the 2012 champ!).

Check out all of the photos over on Facebook.