Longines Finale and Grand Slam Completion
It was the final day of the Longines Future Tennis Aces
tournament and I was ready to see the championship match. I was also more than
ready to complete my own personal Grand Slam.
Even though the American Adam Neff had lost in the first
round, he was excited to be able to watch the match with Longines Rising Tennis Star Ryan Harrison. He also felt better knowing that the player he lost to, Rudolf
Molleker of Germany was the winner of the tournament.
In addition to Harrison, tennis stars Sabine Lisciki (who
would reach the finals of Wimbledon a few weeks later), Arnaud Clement and Fabrizio
Santoro gave out prizes and did exhibitions before we left for Roland Garros.
I have covered the US Open nearly every year in the past
three decades. I have been to Wimbledon and I’ve been to the Australian Open,
but I’d never been to the French Open. Roland Garros, the fourth major, had
eluded me – until this day. I was finally getting to complete my Grand Slam, at
least as an attendee.
Before the matches, we had lunch in the Longines Pavilion.
It was even better than expected, with a salad of various artichokes to start. It
was served with a light and fruity 2012 Chateau La Tour a L’Eveque Blanc de
Blanc.
I couldn’t wait to get out to the courts so I left the group
right after dessert was served. It was quite crowded, with narrow walkways that
seemed to go off in all directions.
I tried to make my way to see a match
between four players I know well (Mike & Bob Bryan vs. Eric Butorac &
Jack Sock), but couldn’t get near the packed court.
Instead I went over to the press room to say hello to some
friends and ironically ran into Bob, Mike and Eric, who were just getting off
the court (the Bryans won and would go on to win the tournament).
I watched the Rafael Nadal vs. Fabio Fognini match. It was a
good one, but I was much more interested in exploring the grounds of Roland
Garros.
I tried to get in to watch the match of Jamie Hampton, a
player I’ve known since she was a child who is having a lot of success on the
tour, but the line was too long and I reminded myself that I had a ticket, not
a press badge, at this event. The same was true for the John Isner vs. Tommy
Haas match, which went on to a tiebreaker in the fifth set before Haas
prevailed.
I walked around for a while before settling in the circle,
where a crowd of spectators was watching matches on the big screen, next to the
Longines official watch and the plaques of past winners. I found pretty much
the same scene at the other stadiums.
We took the bus back to the InterContinental Paris Le Grand in the evening to get
ready for our dinner cruise on the Bateaux Mouche. I sat with the Longines PR
reps and had a wonderful time (I’m sure the endless bottles of chablis helped).
Despite the fact that it was my fourth trip on Bateaux
Mouche, I felt like a first time sightseer. My camera was snapping every angle
of the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and every other site we saw along
the Seine River.
The group was going out after the boat ride, but I knew I
had an early flight back to the U.S. so I went back to the room for my final
night’s sleep in Paris – at least for now.
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