July 31, 2007
Vanderbilt women’s tennis rising senior Taka Bertrand documents her experience in Europe this summer with Commodores Amanda Fish and Catherine Newman.
JULY 31, 2007
Commodore fans,
We´ve been in Barcelona for about two days now, and we´re staying at a hotel that´s about a five minute walk from the F.C Barcelona soccer stadium.
This morning, as the three of us were going for a run around the city, we passed one of the entrances to the soccer stadium and noticed a small gathering of people. When we stopped to see what was going on, we realized that members of the F.C Barcelona team were pulling up to practice in their cars. I tend to get star-struck, especially around pro-athletes, so I had to stop and get a glance at some of the players. Catherine is also a big soccer fan and stayed with me to see some of the team. Amanda, however, had very little interest in the event and went back to the hotel. I´m pretty sure the name Ronaldhino carries no weight with her!
Catherine and I eventually went back to hotel, grabbed our cameras, and then came back to the stadium to watch the team practice. I was in heaven getting the chance to see some of the stars like Ronaldhino and Thierry Henry.
After watching for a bit, the three of us went downtown to check out some of the architecture by the famous architect, Antoni Gaudi. We saw his famous cathedral, which unfortunately was under construction, and some of his other works.
Barcelona has been great and we´ll head back to the states in about a week.
Go ‘Dores!
Taka
JULY 29, 2007
Vanderbilt fans,
A quick update from the road. After Amanda Fish fell in the semifinals yesterday, we watched Catherine Newman in the finals of a tournament in Monaco. It was Catherine’s fourth finals of the trip and she was once again victorious. Tomorrow we travel to Barcelona.
Au revoir!
Taka
JULY 28, 2007
Commodore fans,
I’m writing you from Nice, France where I am here with two of my teammates, Amanda Fish and Catherine Newman. I thought that you might be interested to know about what some of the tennis team is up to this summer.
We’ve been in Europe for close to three weeks now, and Amanda and Catherine have been competing in several professional tennis events throughout France. I am currently out of commission with a minor injury, so I’ve been playing coach to both of the girls and charging five percent of their earnings, but for some reason, I have yet to receive a dime!
Catherine has been playing great tennis, winning the first tournament in Annecy, a small city in the French alps. She has then finaled in the last two events in Bandol and St. Raphael. However, since she’s only a rising sophomore, she has been competing as an amateur; This restricts her from collecting any prize money in excess of her expenses.
Amanda, on the other hand, has graduated and is competing as a professional. She is on what she calls her “farewell tour”. But surprisingly, I haven’t had much difficulty finding a seat at her match! She lost in the quarterfinals of St. Raphael to a very tough player, but played well for her first time on red clay.
Both are set to play their first matches in Monaco tomorrow.
Until Next Time… Go ‘Dores!
Taka