Cheryl Murray

• Le Grand Nuit du Tennis en Monte Carlo

  2008-04-29 09:04:00
  Friday night was Le Grand Nuit du Tennis. In layperson's terms, the tournament people put on an elaborate dinner show for the upper crust of Monte Carlo (which is really a redundant statement, isn't it?), the four semi-finalists, and the press. Good thing I thought to pack a party dress. As I sat there at my table, I started thinking about how grateful the tournament organizers had to have been to have the top four players in the world make the semi-finals. The night would have lacked punch if, say, Hidalgo was there instead of Federer. More on the players in a moment.
  
  The dinner was wonderful. Don't ask me what I ate, because frankly I have no idea. The appetizer definitely contained shrimp, and the main dish was some sort of pork loin I think. Otherwise, I'm not really sure. Besides that, there was quite a bit of wine served by very competent waiters who would refill your glass before you could come close to emptying it, so that by the time the main course was brought out, it wouldn't have mattered if they had served McDonald's hamburgers. It was a lovely evening, to be sure.
  
  All four players attended, some if only briefly. Rafael Nadal went all out in the clothing department, going so far as to put a jacket on over his jeans and white shirt. Quite the fashion plate, that one. Novak Djokovic delighted by wearing a cream (???) colored suit which made me chuckle a little. It actually looked fine for this locale; I was just amused at the prospect of him going into some posh suit store and saying "I think I'll take the buff colored one". Roger Federer wore dress jeans and a jacket as well, but for some reason the outfit looked perfect on him. I only saw him talking to Rafa, as those two seem the friendliest with each other of the four of them. Otherwise not much to report, since it was more of a "sit at your table the entire night" sort of affair.
  
  I noticed something amusing (and admittedly random) yesterday. Rafa ALWAYS cleans the baseline with his foot before every point. This wouldn't be funny, except he does it even after it's just been cleaned by the guy with the brush in between sets. I guess we can put that on the list of on-court quirks. I think it stands at picking his shorts, bouncing the ball 400 times, tucking his hair behind his ears wiping off his sweat with a towel even when he's not sweating and the precise placement of his water bottles. If anyone thinks of anything else, feel free to add them in the comments section.
  
  I don't have any pizzeria stories, since I ate at the "Grand Nuit du Tennis", but I did manage to get an interview with Sam Querrey, who is quite a lovely person. And tall.

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