Gilles As I made abundantly clear in last week's post, I was fortunate enough to nab a photo with one Gilles Simon. It was a wild experience, if just because it was the one photo I desperately sought (well, aside from one with TMF, but that's pretty much an impossibility) - and because I missed an opportunity for one just the day before. Perhaps I ought to explain that story first ... or the one that precedes it. Why don't I just start all the way at the beginning.
Time: Saturday night. Place: The hotel lobby/bar area. I was ordering a drink at the bar (not for me - still teetotaling, worry not), when none other than Thierry Tulasne, Gilles's coach, appeared right next to me. Just a couple of hours earlier, his charge had won a nail-biter of a match against Lu in front of a rowdy and frozen crowd (myself included). That seemed as good an ice-breaker as any, so I turned to him and said, "Congratulations - I was there the entire time!" He was extremely pleasant (almost surprisingly so, considering he must have been exhausted); smiling, he replied, "Oh yeah?" Since he seemed to be in a great mood, I asked him if he wouldn't mind taking a photo with me and he happily obliged. Of course, I also had to ask him if Gilles would be coming down anytime soon, to which Thierry responded, "No, right now he's having a MAH-sahj." Eh, can't win 'em all.
As I left him, I said something along the lines of, "Thank you so much - it was great to meet you and I hope to meet Gilles sometime, too." In that moment, I was horribly embarrassed - why did I have to mention Gilles again? As if that were the only reason I spoke to him! (Well, to be fair, that's probably the only reason any tennis fan would approach him - and he's probably well aware of that.) I was so thrilled to have had that experience, though - as were the TW chicas, especially vetmama, who just that morning was hounding me to talk to him at breakfast!
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. I was strolling around the practice courts, trying to figure out where to get settled, when who I did I cross paths with? Thierry. I was staring at my feet while walking and when I looked up, he was right in front of me, with a big smile on his face! Obviously that meant he recognized me from the night before. I hurriedly replaced my "Holy crap!" look with a smile and continued walking, until I realized he was probably on his way to a Gilles practice. Clearly, I had to see where he was going. (Until that point, I had only seen Gilles for a millisecond in the elevator and at that Lu match, so I wasn't about to miss this.)
But wait, how awkward is that? Changing directions and following the guy after he just recognized me? So I bided my time ... chewed on my nails for a few minutes ... then proceeded to walk over to the general area Thierry was headed. Lo and behold, there was Gilles preparing to practice. And his lovely girlfriend was with him!
I felt a little guilty for scoping out their interaction (that's "private," after all), but more than anything, I was so impressed by it. It was clear that they adore each other and harbor a mutual respect and admiration. (Okay, so it's possible I'm off the mark - how much can one glean in, oh, five minutes? - but my observations are confirmed by every other account I've read of the pair.)
But I digress. As I was watching Gilles practice, I was unreasonably self-conscious because of those earlier run-ins with Thierry (not to mention the "pancakes" comments we've all left here on the blog!). So at the end, when folks were running up to him for autographs and photos as he was leaving the court, I just stood there, frozen. I thought it was best to keep a low profile ... but a few minutes after he was gone, it hit me that I blew the perfect opportunity to meet him!
That's why when I unexpectedly saw him practicing again the following day, I was determined to not let the moment pass me by. Or vetmama was determined on my behalf! See, I was still worried about looking like an uber-fan so I kept my distance - but vetmama wasn't about to let me chicken out again. She had to practically pick me up and carry me over to Gilles!
But it was all worth it in the end - we both got terrific photos with Gilles. He was gracious and good-natured (check out my photo of him laughing) and tried his best to accommodate everyone clamoring for his autograph/photo. I managed to give him a quiet "Bonne chance" before he left the area (which unfortunately didn't do him much good in his match vs. Ljubicic later that afternoon); it was the least I could do considering he just made my day. Heck, my entire trip!
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