The US Open is in full swing in NYC and I’m loving it! I made it to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center early yesterday morning and was able to catch Venus Williams warming up on the practice courts before her straight-set-winning match against Rebecca Marino of Canada. Although it was extremely hot and sunny, I happily wandered throughout the grounds for most of the day and caught Juan Ignacio Chela battling Yen-Hsun Lu, as well as Elena Dementieva vs. Sybille Bammer.

I also stopped to watch a bit of Justin Gimelstob’s broadcast for the Tennis Channel and later I spied the handsome Fernando Verdasco of Spain signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans. I got to watch American John Isner (a truly tall drink of water) as he practiced his powerful serve, as well as admiring the near perfect form of Olympic gold medalist, Stanislas Wawrinka. I got a guilty glimpse of the sexy and shirtless Serbian, Viktor Troicki, working out on a back court and was absolutely thrilled when the world’s top ranked tennis player, Rafa Nadal, decided to strip off his shirt for a quick change in front of a surprisingly small but adoring crowd. Rafa is looking really good – Oh, yes he is. I love the Open! (Click on photo to begin slide show)