Samantha Shapiro

Oct. 18, 2005

March 11, 2006

March 13, 2006

March 13, 2006

Today was a beautiful day in California. We were all so excited to get the chance to see the professionals play at Indian Wells at the Pacific Life Open. We woke up early, hit for a little, then left for a lengthy drive to Palm Springs. When we arrived at the tournament we could not wait to jump out of the car and head straight for the courts. While roaming around, we saw great tennis everywhere. Some highlights included watching Leyton Hewitt on center court in a tough 3 set match, Tim Henman in a close match, as well as women's doubles on a few other courts. Aside from that it was also interesting to walk around the practice courts because we got the chance to be so close to the players without standing in a huge crowd. One of the most surprising moments was when Pete Sampras walked directly by a few of us, and it took us a few seconds to even register it was him!! Personally, I was on the lookout for James Blake, but as for my luck, he was not playing until 6 p.m.

After watching some great tennis, we headed over to Richie's house for some food. Richie's mom prepared amazing ceviche as well as make-your-own burritos. We relaxed at her house for quite a while then left to go do some shopping at the outlet malls. The outlet malls were pretty cool, I think everyone found something to buy since there were TONS of stores! People bought things from jewelry, to clothes, to shoes, as well as much more.

Finally after a long, tiring, exciting day, it was time to return to the hotel. No one could even keep their eyes open on the return back because we were so exhausted from such an exhilarating day.

Samantha Shapiro is a sophomore from Deerfield, Ill. She would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.