Saved the best for last. You probably don’t know this about me, but I love plants. I pretty much live in a greenhouse. So when I first stepped onto the grounds of the new Cincinnati Open I knew I had to talk to whoever was responsible for the landscaping.
The person responsible for creating this tennis secret garden is Christopher LaMond. He has been with the tournament for 15 years, and I got to sit with him to talk about how the design came together for the new landscaping for the tournament using the theme “Tennis Garden.”
One of my favorite takeaways from the chat is how this is a living, breathing organism. This year lays the foundation for the next and will only be better as the years go on.
Today was my last day on the grounds, and I took it slow and easy as I do most last days at a tournament.
Player Interviews
Ella Seidel – who had such a great run this tournament and got herself into the Top 100.
Carlos Alcaraz – who continues to find his form and talked about what it’s like waiting to play his match.
Evan King and Chris Harrison – the No. 1 doubles team in the U.S. They have come a long way from not being able to enter even qualifying of tournaments with their ranking to now being in the Top 20 of the world.
Last year I attended my first Challenger in Champaign, Illinois, and first interviewed Evan King there. It was a small venue with a little crowd, and at the end of this interview he said to me: “We’ve come a long way since Champaign.”
We have come a long way. Ground Pass has grown so much since then, and I am grateful to all of you that make that possible. Below is the video we made at that Challenger.
What’s Next
Next stop for us — New York, baby. US Open. So much more to come.
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