The women’s events started today. The organization here is different for sure. None of the women were allowed to sign in till today after 9am. (There were specific times for the men in various age divisions to sign in too, some yesterday and the older men’s divisions today at 10, 11 and 2). So we lined up European style (lots of cutting the line…Bridget and I ended up in the back of the line, but no worries, we had a long time yet to wait). So we got to the sign up area, paid our entry..60 Euros (no entries were paid in advance by anyone).  We noticed that at 9am there were 4 matches scheduled at the Opatija club, but only one match was on court…at 9:30 two matches were on the court…and 2 courts empty till 10. We had to wait around…till noon…before the draws were made and finally posted.We couldn’t leave because matches were scheduled for today, but couldn’t be scheduled till the draws were made. Bridget was finally scheduled for 11:30 today (not before 11:30) actually. We immediately had to go to a different site…no time for lunch. The courts were about 1000 feet up the hill behind Opatija, very curvy roads. We stopped at one set of courts way up a hill..not the ones Bridget would play on, but someone else in the van played there. Everyone got out and Bridget and her opponent had time for a sandwich…very leisurely ride. Then we went off to another set of courts and it was windy, but when we got there the view was spectacular. I will try to post photos tomorrow. I asked Bridget if the view was distracting when she played. Her court had no backdrop on the sea side and the view was of the cobalt blue Adriatic and the islands off the Croatian coast…unbelievable location.  She said it was distracting, as the view was no beautiful. It was a great vantage point for watching tennis and taking photos, low key. Bridget won 64 62 against a Croatian player who lives in Munich, so they communicated in German. Back to the courts…we were told to wait till after 7pm to get our times for tomorrow. 7pm at the courts…no schedule and none would be posted according to the referee online. We talked to the referee and did get an approximate starting time from him finally. The bar at the club is doing great business with everyone waiting around, but it’s a nice place to wait.

I didn’t play today, smaller draw, only 8, one player, Julia Smutny, dropped out. It was cooler and clearer today. I took photos of the draws too and will post later when I am on my computer.

This is a real tourist hot spot…but not for Americans, though it’s a very nice area.