From: tmarvan@sdcc3.ucsd.edu (Thomas Marvan)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis
Subject: Re: Nations Bank Classic:Wednesday
Date: 22 Jul 92 01:36:24 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <1992Jul21.024301.10732@eng.umd.edu> clin@eng.umd.edu (Charles Lin) writes:
>
>   This story reminds me a little of when I went to the US Open
>last year. For the first time,  I get to see close-ups of
>a lot of pros.  And, yet, with these people standing only a
>few feet (meters?) away,  there is some reluctnace to go out
>and say "Please, please, sign my giude" or whatever.  It's
>even more disheartening to think that most of these players
>are younger than you are.   I look at a Courier and Agassi
>or Ivanisevic and realize that these guys are three, four years
>younger, anthere's me trying to get an autograph?  Well,
>actually I didn't try, but I must admit that a lot of the
>people near me didn't try to get autographs either.      


This reminds me of an interesting story I had whilst autograph
hunting during the Australian Open at Kooyong about ten years ago.
Hana Mandlikova had just completed a tough match on an outside court
and, whilst slicing her way through an autograph-hungry crowd,
refused to reply to anyone's request to pen her name to their
programs so eager was she to get to the changing rooms to recover
and shower. However, in the wale of this, and with the primary
motive of impressing my high school buddies with whom I was at the
stadium, I decided to employ a secret weapon: my knowledge of Czech.
You should have seen the stunned looks on the people around me when
I asked for (in a foreign tongue) and received Mandlikova's
autograph after all others' requests had been stoutly yet
courteosuly refused. She said nothing, smiled, signed, and moved on
as I said thank you.

I also recall another day at the courts when my freinds and I were
hanging out at the Open (we went around to Kooyong a lot after
school - our school was literally up the road from the courts - just
across the Yarra River, actually). We were sitting on some chairs
randomnly positioned between center court and the club house, when an
anonyomous, yet important-looking tennis player walked passed us. A
friend, who was your typical laconic Australian, leaned backed
lazily on his chair and shouted out to this unknown, just as he had
passed us, "Hey, can I have your autograph!." The unknown player
stopped, turned, smiled, then took the trouble to walk back and
oblige my friend. It was probably the first and last time this
player had ever signed his name to a "fan" and, to this day, I don't
recall who it was. 

OK, since I'm on a roll, a final Kooyong story (anyone still with
me?). Another friend, who had all the connections, managed, with his
Kooyong memebership card, to get us into the player's bar/club.
Well, whilst my friend was getting us a couple of soft drinks (we
were about 15-16), I noticed a young Steffi Graf sitting alone at a
table, herself nursing a cold soft drink. I said hello to her in my
high school German, and she politely and quietly responded with a
courteous hello. I then contemplated asking for her autograph, but
was made shy by her own shyness and chickened out. I figured that
she probably wouldn't be a huge star anyway, so what would the point
have been to ask for her autograph? In any case, my friend returned
with the drinks and we went to watch some games on the outside
courts from the balcony. 

This ends another edition of tennis follies....



Tom Marvan.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.tennis