This may be the most informal MTR post ever written. You’ve been warned.

Here’s what’s up. First off… I’M FREAKING EXCITED. I leave in less than 24 hours to Montreal. WOOT. For those who don’t know, I’m planning on going to the Monday to Thursday day sessions, and if there’s a night session that I absolutely can’t resist, a bonus night session. I’m not volunteering, and I don’t have a press pass, but I’m just excited.

Obviously, I can’t blog during the day, so posts will be regulated to whenever I get back to the hotel. I might do a ton of posts, I might just do one, it will depend on how much time I have. They’ll also probably be a lot more like journal entries (“and then I went and watched…”) though there will obviously be lots of fun stories and some match analysis, blah blah.

Unfortunately, I don’t have mobile web on my phone like I did last year, so the tweeting situation is going to be done entirely by text. I’m gonna be following a whole bunch of people on my phone so their tweets come to my phone, however, I won’t see @ replies. If you want (and I’m following you) feel free to direct message me whenever. Really! If I’m not, or it’s not that urgent, I’ll get all the @ replies at the end of the night and get back to you. The good news is that my sister had the same phone as I used to, and broke it, so I’ve got her battery. Which means I’ll have two full batteries for the whole day, so I should be tweeting like a mad mofo, especially if I’m at matches that aren’t being televised or streamed.

More good news, for those who didn’t see my tweet: I have my dad’s wicked awesome camera for the event, so I should be able to get some sweet pics. I’ll use some of them in my posts, and then throw them up on the MTR Facebook photo albums at the end of the day (or week).

Also, if you’re going to be there and want to watch a match, say hi, or include you in my list of people who will be tweeting in the “The Week Ahead” post, hit me up! Comments or on Twitter. Don’t worry, I look scary, but I’m a pretty nice guy.

We leave tomorrow on a ridiculously long ride, so I’ll miss the matches tomorrow. So excited!

And last but not least, drum roll please… welcome new contributor, Ms. @AnaTennisGirl! Ana is someone I’m always talking to about tennis, and we have similar favourites and views on the game. Furthermore, she’s someone I can trust, understands my general take on tennis and the idea behind this blog, and someone I’m more than happy to have fill in some gaps. I’m going to be gone for the first week of the US Open this year, so she’s going to be filling it during that time. As a warm-up, I’ve handed over all Cincy responsibilities to her for this week. I’m obviously not going to be paying much attention to it, and seeing even less of it’s matches, so it works as a perfect time for her to get cozy with the place.

Awesome? Awesome. Also, huge props and excitement to the always wonderful @FortyDeuceTwits of the amazing Forty Deuce, who got a last minute Cincy wildcard press pass! In other words, she’ll once again be the place to be for around the grounds, kickass tournament coverage. We got this shit covered, people.