TASTE OF TENNIS: I asked, they answered

So, yeah. I made it to this year's Taste of Tennis albeit a little late. I had to work so my friend, Erin, covered the Rafael Nadal/Armani event at Macy's earlier in the day for me, where he unveiled his ginormous ballboard to the world, before heading over to the W Hotel in Midtown where we were meeting up.

When I got there I ran into Karen from Tennis Panorama, my annual US Open Party Patrol buddy, who is always up for a good time. I also hung out with Nick from Tennis Served Fresh, @MariyaKTennis and finally got to meet Rachel from OntheGoTennis and Elena from The Slice. The one thing I noticed immediately was the fewer number of media in attendance - it didn't have the same INSANE feel it had last year. But, here was the worst part: no complimentary bottled water. HOW COULD THEY LET US GET THIRSTY??? I wondered if it was on downhill from there. Luckily, I had gum.

The green carpet arrivals began to, er, arrive. Rafa, surprisingly or maybe not so surprisingly, came through first. I compared his appearance to having "the dessert before the main course" over Twitter. It was also like a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am moment- a quickie but without the guilt. He was literally there for less than a minute before Benito moved him onto the VIP area. For him to do all this publicity for his book and ad campaign must be draining for him - it's soooo not his thing. I guess I'm not surprised he flew through the line.

There were also less lady ballers at this event than last year which meant less opportunity to ask, "Who are you wearing, guuurl???" So I asked the guys. Well, one guy: Marin Cilic. He had on this cool shirt jacket but no idea who designed it. I suppose it wasn't a question he was prepared to answer. Hopefully he will be next time, and in that small way I've helped prepare him for future green carpet questions - or not. Probably not.

A few of us made it upstairs to the big party (we have our ways) where we ate some fabulous food and drank, um, a lot. A fucking blast. But as they say, it's not how you start but how you end and THIS end was awesome. Just awesome. Even an obviously fanatical and possibly drunk person accosting him on the street for a picture couldn't scare him away. HE BE THE BEST.

Thanks to E, who's an amazing graphic designer BTW, for helping me out and DKC for the great event and invite. Until next year Taste of Tennis!!!

Check out my full Q & A with Tommy Haas, Tamira Paszek, Fernando Verdasco, Janko Tipsarevic, Marin Cilic, Gilles Simon, James Blake and Vera Zvonareva from Taste of Tennis after the jump.

EXCLUSIVE: Video interviews from the Taste of Tennis green carpet

So I couldn't end this great week of pre-US Open celebrations without showing you guys my green carpet interviews from Thursday's Taste of Tennis event!

I got a chance to talk tennis and food with many of the ballers who were in attendance that night including Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva as well as musician John Legend, chef Katie Lee and TV host Kelly Choi. Tennis Channel commentator Justin Gimelstob broke down his US Open draw for the camera.

A HUGE thanks to the awesome Sam Zalutsky and his SaZam Productions for taking loads of footage and making sense of it all. Glad someone could.

Enjoy!


[Video: DtL]

PHOTO OP: So what does tennis taste like?

Last night I took my first nose dive into being a member of the press on a red carpet line (though this one was green) for one of the biggest pre-US Open events of every year: Taste of Tennis sponsored by BNP Paribas! Some of the biggest ballers in the world teamed up with a number of the world's top chefs for great food, a few cooking lessons and lots of partying all to benefit the New York Junior Tennis League.

It was strange being on the other side of the rope after having spent many working hours as a publicist producing and managing events like TOT. That being said I was prepared for some moments of calm followed by an intense crush of celebrity arrivals, flashing bulbs and yells of, "Victoria, to your right!" and "Andy, just a few questions please!" Oh, that might have been me and it didn't work. A-Rod wasn't in the mood for talking - just cooking with chef, TV host and Billy Joel ex Katie Lee.

The first arrivals on the carpet were the chefs including Lee, Fernando Navas of SushiSamba, John Villa of Tao and Bart Vandaele of Belga Cafe. The ballers were next up and the first to arrive was Victoria Azarenka followed by Christina McHale, Sorana Cirstea, Sabine Lisicki, Amer Delic,Vera Zvonareva, Gilles Simon with Thierry Tulasne, Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters who was bravely working harem pants. Tennis Channel commentator and ex-baller Justin Gimelstob was also on hand and came through the line.

The pictures aren't the best quality - apologies! - because I literally had my hands full, but I achieved my big objective which was to record some interviews with the ballers. Vika, Sora, Lissie, Bepa, Kimmie and Gimel were gracious enough to stop by and answer some questions about tennis and food so look out for that video (edit: click here to see the interviews) shot and and now being edited by my friend Sam Zalutsky (www.SaZamProductions.com).

Oh yes, Grammy-winning musician and supremely handsome John Legend was also in the house for the evening. *sigh*

Once the green carpet arrivals were complete we headed up to the main event on the second floor. For some reason I had been told press was not allowed into the party but all that was required was a showing of our media credentials and we were in. The venue was packed with what must have been 150-200 people. The food was extraordinary as you can imagine and the music and drinks (not to mention the cute boy factor) were off the charts. Sam and I stopped by every food station to sample the world-class offerings save for some of the desserts.

While at the party I spotted Brad Gilbert, Sven Groeneveld, Lissie, sexy Sergey Demekhine (coach to Bepa and an ex-model) and Fernando Verdasco, who waved me off for his dinner plate when I asked for a picture *super sad face*. The only other sighting of the night was Mardy Fish carrying a bag and racquet as he headed out of the W Hotel.

All in all it was an awesome night. I can see why this event is one NOT to be missed!

 

Check out more of the images from the green carpet and beyond after the jump (click on the headline.)