28 April, 2008

Merci beaucoup, Federation Francaise de Tennis

Well, well, well...sandwiched among the usual junk mail was a notice to pick up a package from the post office - a walk of a mile or so. I made a mental note to go on Saturday, but I already knew that the package contained my long-awaited tickets to Roland Garros. As a long-time tennis fan who has schlepped to Queens for nine straight years to watch the game's biggest and brightest stars battle each other at the US Open, it had been my dream to watch the action on clay at Roland Garros.

How come? Due to the slower surface, long rallies were more common in contrast to the shorter points on hard court surfaces, and I enjoy the tension building up as the points become longer and longer and the players try to come up with all sorts of shots to outwit their opponent. So it's style and finesse over power and brute force. Besides, it's held in Paris, which is self-explanatory, isn't it?

So the obvious question is, how does one get tickets to Roland Garros without paying an arm and a leg? Here's how I got them, which involves a bit of luck and suspense. But thanks to the generosity of le Federation Francaise de Tennis, I'm off to the City of Lights in a few weeks to witness live tennis action on la terre bateau. Allez!!!