Malaysian Open Tennis 2015: David Ferrer Looking Fresh and Cool Outside of the Court

David Ferrer would be the more popular player right now since he's inside the top 10 and has been there these past five years.

Incidentally, he also won the title here in Malaysia, beating Feliciano Lopez last night, in an all-Spanish final.

Away from the court and the glare of the sun, he does look quite handsome, without the usual bandana he puts on his head. In court, he appears a bit short but in person, he's tall naman pala.

Pano naman kasi most male tennis players are 6 feet or taller.

Malaysian Open Tennis 2015: A Selfie with David and Grigor!

At risk of getting a reprimand, I still decided on getting a selfie!

Anyway, I was thinking, I paid thousands of pesos for my hotel and plane fare just to come here to KL, might as well, take a selfie with some of the players when the opportunity comes!

This was one of the opportunities to have one since there was enough space for me with my other media colleagues.

You have to understand that all these photo ops are happening very quickly, and the organizers move these players quickly from post one to post two to post three, not wasting time on idle chatter or time.

As demanding as the organizers are of the players' time to grace their events, the players are also demanding with their practice time - so these photo ops are done very quickly - and not a minute is wasted.

Anyway, these players have to make their sponsors happy as well, and the sponsors also expect the players to show their best in the court!

It's a carefully orchestrated balance.

Malaysian Open Tennis 2015: Fun and Cool Grigor Dimitrov

To those who are not familiar with tennis, look closely at Grigor Dimitrov because pundits have named him baby Fed and the most likely successor to Roger Federer.

He's having a hard time dealing with the pressure though, right now but hopefully soon, he should be able to find his stride.

He is also known in tennis circles as THE boyfriend of Maria Sharapova.  I don't know though if they're still together, and mind you, nobody in the media here asked him about him and Maria! Kainis! 

I did not dare ask as well, baka pauwiin ako kasi the ATP Tour people were there and were watching like a hawk!

When I learned that he was joining the KL tournament, ayun, sealed na ang fate ng trip ko.  I just had to see Grigor up close!

Malaysian Open Tennis 2015: Goosebumps Moment!

The full gravity of what I was doing did not dawn on me until both David Ferrer and Grigor Dimitrov got out of the car.

After that, it was goosebumps moment! They were so near me, I could just go and pinch them in the b*m, I swear!  

All of these things actually happened so fast but for me, it seemed like everything was in slow motion.  

This was the first time I've seen them THIS CLOSE because usually in Wimbledon they would still be close but there are a million other fans vying for that space and they move out of the court so fast, you'd have to be super quick with your camera.

Here, they were very relaxed and loose.

Malaysian Open Tennis 2015: A Gamelan Welcomes the Players

There was a gamelan set-up beside the mini tennis court and the idea was they will be playing while the players will be playing, basically combining culture and sport.

I decided to have a photo with one of them since they were in full regalia.

Malaysian Open Tennis 2015: The Ball Boys Relax Before the Players Came

The ball boys having fun and feeling loose while waiting for the players to come.

Malaysian Open Tennis 2015: Waiting for Grigor and David

This is the Malaysian Tourist Information Centre right in the heart of KL where the organizers set up a mini-tennis court and a gamelan band to welcome the players.

We waited for the players for about an hour, allowing me enough time to take pictures of the place and make chika-chika with other media people and the ATP people.