Eddie Herr Begins
©Colette Lewis 2008--
Bradenton, FL--
A perfectly beautiful afternoon turned into a chilly evening, but the tennis never stopped during the opening day of play at the Eddie Herr International. The last girls 16s qualifying second round match was still out on a lighted court at 9:30 p.m., but the grounds of the IMG/Bollettieri Tennis Academy were otherwise quiet as the first of ten days of competition drew to a close.
A few of the youngest participants, the 12s, who will begin main draw play Saturday, stopped by to look at the draw, check their times and generally acclimate themselves to the surroundings. The stringers were hard at work, with three or four machines continuously in use, churning out one racquet after another for the pile accumulating on a side table.
We spent several hours organizing the country boards, one of the distinguishing features of the Eddie Herr. In the main draw, players are sent out to their courts with the name of their country emblazoned in black block letters on white plastic, which they place next to their chairs on court. Returning both name boards to the tournament desk is the responsibility of the winner, who is also reporting the score, but there are a fair number of players who must be sent back to get them, with the concept, and perhaps the language they were instructed in, completely foreign to those unfamiliar with the tournament's traditions.
This year there are over 90 countries represented, so the sight of the country boards spread out on the tables is an impressive one, and in fact, one parent took a photo of the array as we finished the job. By late next week, it will have been whittled down to one table with just a few country boards still in use, but right now they suggest the hope of the hundreds of players yet to begin main draw play.
The results and draws throughout the week can be found at eddieherr.com.
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