With its brand new clay surface groomed and raked after each set, its lines carefully swept free from dust, gently watered in the heat and lovingly tucked under covers during rainy spells, this has to be one of the best courts in Paris. Add to that a scrupulously adjusted net, new balls supplied every seven games, a line judge to adjudicate every call and a scoreboard so no one ever has to be reminded who is serving or from which side and you are pretty much looking at perfection.
Needless to say I was watching rather than playing!
Court 18 is the newest outside court at Roland Garros and definitely one of my favourites. With plenty of room for spectators on all sides you are guaranteed a great view and in close enough proximity to hear the swish of a racket and maybe even catch a stray ball.
My friend Tanya and I were there for our annual trip to the French Open and were more than happy to be in the cheap seats with our €20 ground tickets. The weather forecast was diabolical, but at that price any tennis was a bonus. We arrived when the ground opened at 10am and bagged great seats behind the baseline to watch John McEnroe pair up with French veteran Cedric Pioline in the Trophée des Légendes.
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| A huge hit with the crowds: tennis legend John McEnroe |
It was a great match with McEnroe jokingly querying line calls to cries of "You cannot be serious?" from the delighted crowd. When the umpire overturned a line call in McEnroe's favour on a close serve he asked her: "Where were you 30 years ago?" After a particularly arduous rally Pioline borrowed a chair from a line judge and played from sitting - almost winning the point. In the end the pair beat their opponents Spain's Sergi Bruguera and Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui by two sets to love.
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| Pioline takes a pew |
I always enjoy watching the cut and thrust of doubles on clay courts - so much more entertaining than endless grunting rallies from the baseline during singles matches. The thrilling volleys and cheeky lobs had the players dashing all over the court jumping and sometimes even diving for shots. On Court 18 you are also close enough to see the player at the net give a secret behind-the-back hand signal to their partner, or to overhear a whispered tactical aside.
We'd already enjoyed a ladies doubles match in the Trophée des Légendes Dames featuring France's Marion Bartoli who was playing with Martina Navratilova against Belgium's Kim Clijsters and Nathalie Tauziat of France and we returned after a break for lunch (this is France after all!) to watch the semi-final of the mixed doubles in which Latisha Chan and Ivan Dodig beat Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Robert Farah in a hard-fought tie-break. Most striking was seeing the size of today's tennis stars who look like Amazons in comparison with the stars of yesteryear. Tracy Austin, who I remember becoming the youngest ever winner of the US Open at the age of 16 in 1979, looked absolutely tiny when she came out to play her doubles match with fellow American Lindsay Davenport against Spain's Conchita Martinez and France's Sandrine Testud.
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| Brolly good show - the covers come on |
It was at this point that the heavens finally opened and the covers came on. We decided to call it a day - if Roland Garros has a fault it is that there is nowhere for the thousands of spectators to shelter. All the seating, even on the big show courts, is open to the elements, the assorted cafes and snack bars are all out in the open and the various merchandising stands are little more than that. We weren't complaining though. We'd definitely had our €20 worth and headed back into Paris for an aperitif and some post-match analysis. Next stop Paris Tennis to book a court for our next game!
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| Tanya (right) - who took most of these photos |
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