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Nicolas Lapentti "Nico" Webpage |
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Here follows a report from the TMS tournament in Madrid from Annie. [In background Annie has been supporting Nico for some time but has never watched any of his matches live .......... until now ......] Madrid TMS This new tournament is in a lovely location, in the famous Casa de Campo park on the edge of the city. The purpose-built stadium has an impressive centre court - the Rockodromo - plus two smaller courts, and three practice courts with public access. Sadly, the practice courts are surrounded by nets which does not help with photography - or with chasing the players - but I guess they feel safe there! One marvellous treat for the fans is the balcony which allows a birds-eye view of the players reception / lounge area - I would recommend the tournament for this reason alone! Monday - At the Practice Courts Nico appeared from the players quarters, wearing a white tracksuit. I was taken aback - in fact I took a few steps back in shock! - but my friends (thank you Sue, Cat, Dee) are very encouraging and gave me a push in the right direction. So.... I RAN after him and called "Nico, por favour" and he stopped and turned to me. "Hi, Nico" I said, "I have a flag. Would you sign it for me, please?". The Beautiful One said of course, he would sign anything, anytime - how encouraging is that?! There followed much rummaging for said Ecuadorian flag and pen, and guess what? The pen didn't work. He borrowed a programme to lean on and pressed harder, but to no avail. At this point, I could have collapsed into a disappointed heap on the floor, but instead, I looked up at him - he's so tall, isn't he? - and asked if he would kiss it instead? Nico thought this was highly amusing and happily kissed my flag. You may be wondering why I didn't ask him to kiss me instead? Well, the thought did cross my mind, but I guess I'll save that for next time...... As he was leaving, he said he would come back and sign it when the pen was working. And he did! "Is it working now?", he asked in his deep sultry voice, when he walked back a few minutes later. He autographed the flag and I said "Beautiful" and he thought I meant his signature but I meant HIM...... actually, maybe he knew I meant him ;-) Tuesday - Lapentti v. Kratochvil Arrived on Court 1 early to get the best seats, behind the players. Unfortunately, Nico entered the court first and sat at the other bench, so Michel Kratochvil spent the match sitting in front of my Ecuadorian flag! The first few games were evenly matched with both players finding their rhythm and length on the surface. Nico was angry about a few line calls and made his feelings known to the umpire - in a polite way ;-) - but this put him out of his stride and he started to overhit his passing shots and hit his (few) volleys straight into the net. Kratochvil took advantage of Nico's frustration - hence the score 2-5 and set point down. However, Nico rallied immediately, deciding not to let the first set drift away from him, as he so often does. He won the first set 7-5 in the tie-break and never looked back. Nico looked stronger and fitter than Kratochvil, and with an increasingly attacking approach as the match progressed, took the second set easily, 6-1. Hurrah for Nico! And did I mention the shirt change? He was very hot and sweaty......
Calling any budding journalists / fans who like
to write ......
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