It's my birthday today - and a rather significant one at that! My husband (and tennis partner) bought me new balls, but much more excitingly my lovely London girlfriends bought me a fabulous new tennis outfit from Sweaty Betty. I had hoped we might bag some ground passes for Roland Garros today, but it was not to be. Instead I made a last-minute booking at this tried and tested court at Port de Charenton in the 12th arrondissement. I'd had my eye on a flat overlooking these courts, but the For Sale sign was gone today so we've probably missed the boat there (to my husband's relief - he doesn't think proximity to a great tennis court is a good enough reason to buy a flat).
In honour of my fabulous birthday present I'm breaking with tradition to appear in a photo. The skirt - or 'skorts' to be more accurate - even had a handy ball pocket sewn into them for storing an extra ball when serving. My game was definitely improved by my new attire and perhaps even more so by the new balls. Imagine what a difference it would make to my game if I could have new balls (and perhaps even a new outfit!) every seven games like the pros - a much more even bounce, with no ball bouncier than another and none too flat. Of course typically, as we had a full set of new balls, our court was inadequately fenced with a gap between us and the next court. I did have a moment where I thought we'd lost a ball as we could only find seven - the other was in fact in my new Sweaty Betty pocket!
On our previous trip to Léo Lagrange we had played on Court 6, a green, astroturf carpet with a liberal sprinkling of sand. This time we were on concrete, but a smart, well-maintained court none the less, notwithstanding the gap between us and our neighbours. It is definitely one of my favourites - on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes with lots of trees, flowers and lawns. A perfect spot on a perfect summer day.
Fabulous birthday - huge thanks to Lou, Simone, Corinne, Hélène, Gilli, Lisa and Anne.
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