Double Fault at Roland Garros
Page 42
Pete was unusually subdued about his victory; disappointed that Agassi had not been at full strength. Gregg tried to cheer him up, but Pete wasn’t buying it. “Everyone thinks that Agassi would have beaten me if it weren’t for the injury. In fact, I’m not so sure he wouldn’t have.”
“Okay, on Wednesday you get a chance to show them it wasn’t a fluke,” Lisa said encouragingly. “In the meantime, you can watch your little sister kick some Russian butt tomorrow. You’re not going to be the only Simpson in this tournament. In fact, let’s place a little wager on who gets further in this tournament, you or me. ”
“You’re on, baby sister. Pick your poison. What should we play for?”
“Okay, how about this? As long as I’m in the tournament you will refer to me as “my great hero” whenever a reporter asks you about me, or in the highly unlikely event that I lose first, I’ll say the same about you. Agreed?”
“You mean that after you lose, and Pat McEnroe asks you whether your brother has a chance to win his next match, you’re going to say that Pete is my great hero and I hope he loses so that I can stop calling him my great hero? I can do that!”
“Remember, it works both ways.” Mary and I watched and realized that Lisa had managed to get Pete out of his funk. We also noticed Lisa’s confidence She truly believed she would win tomorrow.
Lisa had played a lot of tennis in the past three months and was now ranked #89 in the world. She was match tough and comfortable on the red clay. However, nothing could prepare her for the excitement of opening on center court against the defending women’s champion, Anastasia Myskina. Last year the Russian had completed a dream year by outlasting fellow countrywoman Elena Dementieva in a tense, error prone final.
Most players would have complained about a bad draw, Lisa saw it as an opportunity to show the world she could play. In her mind it was Myskina that had the bad draw.
“She looks like she’s at Disneyland,” Mary commented as Lisa and Anastasia warmed up. “She is smiling and looking around like it’s a day in the park.”
“She better start concentrating or the match will be over before she knows it,” Gregg admonished.
“I don’t believe it. Do you see what she is doing?” I muttered to no one in particular. Lisa had gone to her chair and pulled a camera out of her bag, and was snapping pictures of the crowd. I’m sure my mouth was open when she pointed the camera at us. Many people in the crowd had noticed and were laughing and waving. Myskina was not amused. The chair umpire seemed to be stifling a laugh as she announced into the microphone; “Time.”
It took Lisa 15 seconds to walk back to the baseline and prepare to serve, but in those 15 seconds she converted from a frivolous tourist to a hardened competitor. Her first serve was a serve up the middle that Myskina barely got her racket on. Her next serve was an ace out wide. Lisa was all over Myskina and didn’t let up. She won the first set 6-1 in 26 minutes.
“Wow,” I whispered to Mary. “Can she keep it up?”
“We’ll see. I have her charted for 13 winners and only two unforced errors. Nobody can keep that level of tennis up forever.”
Myskina recovered in the 2nd set and began to connect on her punishing groundstrokes. Lisa began to make errors, particularly off her backhand, but played well enough to force a tiebreaker. Lisa still looked confident and had a match point on her serve at 6-5 when fate intervened. Myskina hit a forehand crosscourt, which was called wide by the lines woman. Lisa threw her racquet in the air in joy before she heard chair person overrule the call, even though the ball was on the far side of the court. The umpire climbed out of the chair and found a mark that had just clipped the line. Lisa claimed he had the wrong ball mark and pointed to a mark two feet up the line that was clearly out. Most of the crowd agreed with her, but not the person that counted. “Six all,” the umpire announced, and the argument was over.
Lisa was deflated and lost her composure, and the next two points. The match was even at one set apiece. During the changeover, she also drew a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct when she mischievously tiptoed over to the disputed mark and snapped a picture. Her impish smile said she was kidding and 15,000 people roared with laughter. The chair umpire and her opponent were not amused.
Myskina never had a chance in the third set. It was the first set all over again, and Lisa won in 19 minutes. She was into the 2nd round to the delight of the crowd and her support group in the friends and family box. “Today she is my great hero,” Pete said proudly.
That evening we celebrated and talked a little bit about whether the camera-thing was pushing the boundaries of sportsmanship. We concluded that since it was spontaneous, only the “tennis prudes” would have a problem. Lisa agreed to put the camera away for the rest of the tournament, at least until a week from Saturday during her award ceremony. The next day Lisa was fined $5,000 by the USTA, a decision that caused an uproar from all fans and media covering the tournament. John McEnroe was quoted as saying, “I cannot believe it,” a phrase he usually reserved for bad line calls.
Agbu was wounded badly and could barely walk, but he knew the French police would seal off the area within minutes. The explosion that had destroyed the van had thrown him to the edge of the woods that was a tiny part of the national forest of Rouvray. He managed to crawl and stumble into the protection of the trees and escape immediate detection. As he lay among the dense shrubbery and caught his breath, Agbu realized he must escape quickly before the French police cordoned off the park. It was dark and he needed to move quickly.
There are over 35 kilometers of footpaths meandering through the 2,200 acre Bois de Boulogne park. Agbu emerged from the far side of the woods and found a footpath leading past a deserted children’s playground. After dark, this was not a place for children. Agbu dragged his injured leg, ignoring the blood that soaked his pants and left a trail that would be easy to follow. He knew he needed to find a place to rest and headed towards the stream that dissected the park. At that moment, providence intervened on his behalf. A scooter with a single rider was coming directly towards him, probably lost and seeking an exit from this dangerous playground. He didn’t make it. Moments later Agbu was on the scooter heading towards the city. The scooter’s owner had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and paid for this unfortunate coincidence with his life.
Agbu reached the rented apartment and collapsed on the bed, too tired to think clearly. He needed sleep. When he awoke it was still dark and he felt a little better, but he knew he needed help or his wounds would fester. They had to be cleaned and the bullet had to come out. He also knew that he needed to find a new safe house. Agbu was sure the others were dead, but it was too much to expect that authorities would not be able to eventually find this apartment where they had lived for two weeks. He had 24 hours at most.
Planning for contingencies was one of Agbu’s strong points. He called the number he had memorized and two hours later the doctor had removed the bullet and cleansed his wounds. “You need complete rest, Agbu. I’ll arrange for a car to take you back to Spain.”
“No!” Agbu replied angrily, “Drive me to this address. I’ll rest-up there for a couple days. I still have unfinished business here in Paris.”
The doctor helped Agbu down the stairs into the car. They didn’t see anyone, but the scooter was missing. “Damn thieves,” Agbu muttered. He knew it was only a matter of time before the police would trace the scooter back to this location.
“Good,” Agbu muttered to himself. “I want them to know that I’m coming for them.
There were no other major upsets in either the men’s or women’s draw. 2000 and 2001 champion Gustavo Kureten was defeated but this was not unexpected. “Guga,” as he is nicknamed, was not the same player since undergoing two hip operations. Carlos won easily in straight sets. The match took only 85 minutes, reminiscent of the fast matches that were a trademark of Monica Seles in her prime.
Day 3 (Wednesday)
The Top Women Survive<
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