Sunday 1 June 2014

Roland Garros


Happy Sunday!

I have just brought my Mom to the station since she stayed in Paris over the last few days. Once again, it was such a pleasure to have her here. We discovered Paris even more and had the most impeccable food in fancy restaurants that I will share with you by the end of my stay. End? Yes, time passes so incredibly fast that I only have few weeks left in this gorgeous place and I already feel that certain wrench…

As I literally grew up on the tennis court, Paris oozes a particular charm for me these days: the French Open – or Roland Garros – are taking place in the city. Since forever I have been watching the tournament on TV, always crossing fingers for my favourites and hoping for the day to go there myself.

And the day came: Last Thursday I early caught the metro to enter the holy zone. Thanks to a nerve-wrecking procedure I obtained my tickets and felt like a little kid going to Disneyland for its first time. I was mesmerized by the three impressive stadiums, the experts around me, the excitement of all the spectators in the air. It wasn’t my first time on a tennis tournament but it was my first Grand Slam (the others are Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open). All in all I watched 5 matches, amongst them the Olympic Gold Medalist Andy Murrey who easily defeated his opponent. I also attended the games of Simona Halep, the best ranked woman in the tournament, and Ivo Karlovic, the 2.11m-man with services of 200 km/h. In fact, the matches with no name players were even better because they were less one-sided - I was probably as anxious while sitting in the public as when I play myself.

Yet, I unfortunately couldn’t see Rafa Nadal, my all time favourite and idol, who played the same day, but to which court I didn’t have access (as I said nerve-wrecking process).
But I don’t mind since I had a blissful day without a single drop of rain, the world’s best tennis and the one-time experience to have finally attended such a prestigious tournament.

Roland Garros, I come back.

Simona Halep
Court No. 1
German Andrea Petkovic
Ivo Karlovic's forehand
The four Grand Slam tournaments

My Roland Garros essentials

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