Press-room chaos begins with dreams of Genie, ends with nightmarish storm

It was an entertaining day in the Citi Open media center, where both reporters and Genie Bouchard combined for a memorable press conference. Following her straight-set loss to Camila Giorgi during first-round action in Washington, D.C., Genie was undoubtedly content to answer questions unrelated to the match.

The Canadian was first reeled into the current pop-culture debate regarding the current feud/controversy/whatever-it-is between Taylor Swift and the Kim Kardashian-Kanye West power couple. For whatever it’s worth, Genie appears to be on Team Kimye.

At the end of the press conference, Genie was asked–and this is not a joke–if she was surprised that Victoria Azarenka “had someone to be pregnant with.”

Following a hearty chuckle, she indicated that she was surprised to learn of Azarenka’s pregnancy before channeling her inner Forrest Gump with a “that’s all I have to say about that” comment.

But it was not all fun and games in the press room–or anywhere else on the tournament grounds–as the clock approached midnight. The nightcap featuring Steve Johnson and Adrian Mannarino was interrupted after six games and interrupted in a major way. An apocalyptic storm sent players and fans to the exits and produced enough rain to flood the media center (which, unfortunately, is actually in a tent). The aforementioned tent managed to stand upright against heavy winds and substantial hail, even though at times it sounded like it might give way altogether.

Eventually the press crew had to evacuate because of wet electrical equipment and because, according to one media manager, we were for all intents and purposes in the middle of lake.

Ben Rothenberg after evacuating the media center and finding more secure shelter in the stadium:

Will there even be a media center in which to work on Wednesday? Stay tuned….