I have never attended a Davis Cup semifinal match so with Spain hosting Israel in Torre Pacheco (about 30 minutes south of Murcia) and only a 2.5 hour drive from Benimassot, I planned to attend. The match was at the Polaris World la Torre Golf Resort. What I did not realize was that it would take me a lot longer to get there than I first thought. We did not arrive at the resort until 12:30 pm (the first match started at noon). And after figuring out where to park we were not at the temporary stadium until 1 pm.

Obtaining Tickets
The cheapest ticket at the ticket office was 45 euros. Since we were late, I did not see any people selling their extra tickets so I tried to buy two tickets from the box office. When I tried to pay for the two tickets with a credit card they said cash only and Nicole and I only had 84 euros combined so we needed to go to a cash machine. However, with Nicole already wavering on whether to attend the match (it was hot and sunny plus she does not like watching tennis), she opted out and instead chose to sit in the shade and watch the event on the large screen TV that was setup in the main square.

Match #1
The first match of the day was between David Ferrer of Spain and Harel Levy of Israel. I arrived in time for the second set. Ferrer won the first match of the day fairly easily 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.

Between Matches
At first I thought the public address announcer stated that there would only be a 20 minute break in between matches. It turned out to be more like 45 minutes. Since I only thought I had 20 minutes, I tried to see if I could exit after the first match and hang out with Nicole. I asked a guard if I could exit but he told me I needed to get a pass at the other gate. Instead I noticed a lot of people walking to the restaurants near me so I followed them and then looked for a bathroom. As I was walking to towards a bathroom, I noticed a door entrance to an apparent party. I walked in and found myself in sporting event heaven – hospitality with free food and drinks. The guard who was supposed to be standing at the door showed up two minutes later but I was already in. I noticed everyone in the room had a grey wristband around one of their wrists. Thus, with one hand in my pocket and another holding a glass of wine I wandered around the party.

Match #2
After enjoying some hospitality it was time for the second match. The second match featured Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and Dudi Sela of Israel. Ferrero, just as Ferrer had, won his match easily 6-4, 6-2, 6-0.

Post Match Dining
After watching Ferrero take the first two sets of the match, I left to eat dinner with Nicole. We ate at Bamboo by Ginkgo. Since they had a menu (appetizer, entrée and dessert) for 24 euros we ordered one to share. The other alternative was eating a 10 euro sandwich and drinking a 5 euro soda in the venue – really expensive if you ask me.