Watching Roger Federer at Roland Garros - a red letter day for my Swiss husband


While I may have a love-hate relationship with Roger Federer, Stephane has only one emotion when it comes to his Swiss compatriot - 100% admiration. So, imagine his delight when my endless refreshing of the official Roland Garros resale website finally paid off and I was able to get a ticket for him to watch Roger in action at the French Open tennis tournament.

Since we spent most of the day watching different matches, it was interesting to upload Stephane's photos this morning and see what caught his eye. He had several shots of Roger on the Suzanne Lenglen court ...


... and quite a few pictures of Federer's wife in the stands. As Stephane's mother always used to say, you can tell how Roger is playing by watching the expression on Mirka's face. Stephane must have taken the following photo at about the same time that he sent me a text message that said, "Roger is making lots of unforced errors. Not a great Roger today. I am concerned about the outcome of the game." Federer's wife appears to be worried, too.

Their concerns were without reason though because Roger managed to win the match against Goffin, much to Stephane and Mirka's relief!

Can you guess which one is Mirka?

When Federer finished playing, Stephane and I switched seats so that he could support Stanislas Warwinka, a fellow Swiss, in his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a Frenchman, at the Philippe Chatrier court. Judging by the photo shown below, Stephane appears to have been momentarily distracted from cheering for his countryman by the French female sportscaster wearing a soft pink sweater and gloves. It's a perfect example of "photographic evidence"!


What was on my camera? A picture showing the view from my seat at Philippe Chatrier court.


During one of the most hotly contested points of the 4 hours and 18 minutes match between Novak Djokovic and Andreas Seppi, Rafael Nadal appeared on the nearby terrace to celebrate his 26th birthday. It was difficult to decide which way to look - at the epic battle or at Raffa blowing out his candles.


Even though I still haven't had the opportunity to see Roger Federer play tennis, I have seen him sign quite a few autographs. Our sense of fashion seems to be closely aligned because the orange jacket that I was wearing yesterday was almost the same color as his shirt. Although, come to think of it, perhaps I should have shown my support by wearing the Swiss colors of red and white like Stephane. Allez, Roger. We would love to see you play in the final!

Comments

  1. I got to see Federer play once at the US Open, unforgettable! Definitely my favorite player!

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    1. Even though I say that I have a love/hate relationship with Roger, he's my favorite, too!

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  2. So happy for you both, but a little jealous too. Although I've seen Roger play at the US Open, I would love to see him on clay. And I've never been as close to him as you seem to have been with the autograph shot--you certainly know how to scope 'em out.

    I've also seen Rafa play, I saw him lose last year at the Aussie Open to David Ferrer (he was slightly injured).

    And of course you mean you hope to see Roger WIN the final, not just play in it. Right? And wait, what is your love-hate relationship with Roger? I have to go follow that link and find out.

    And, and, just one more and, please if you or Stephane ever get a chance to speak to Mrs Federer, please tell her that chewing gum looks terrible on television (and in real life too if you ask me).

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    1. Starting from the bottom - Stephane laughed and said, "It's so true!" when he read your comment about chewing gum. If I don't get the chance to tell Mrs. Federer, I'm sure that Stephane will.

      While I would really like to say that Roger will WIN the final, I'll be happy if he plays in it this year. We're taking things one day at a time with Federer. Let's see how he does against del Potro in the quarterfinals. Having said that, he always surprises us. Fingers crossed that he was just having a bad day on Sunday.

      Thanks to the behind-the-scenes tour that I did of Roland Garros last year, I've figured out where to stand to get the best view of the players as they make their way from one court to the next. Being a good Swiss who doesn't want to intrude on anyone else's privacy, Stephane was really torn about if he should join me or not. In the end, his desire to see Roger got the better of him and he stayed with me for a couple of minutes before leaving to watch the match between Tsonga and Wawrinka. And then Roger appeared.

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  3. Great photos Mary Kay. It is hard not to admire Federer...he always puts on a good show for us here.

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    1. He's an admirable man - much more so than the players who smash their rackets when things aren't going their way.

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  4. I had the pleasure of watching Federer play at the ATP's in (of all places) Cincinnati, Ohio last year! It's great fun to watch a champion! Glad Stephane had such a fun day!

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    1. There's a lot going on in Cincinnati, Jane. Maybe I'll have to go to Ohio to watch Federer in action!

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  5. I love your dry sense of humour Mary Kay! GM x

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    1. I'm glad that you recognize it as humor, or at least as an attempt!

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  6. How exciting!! I've always wanted to go to the French Open. I manage to go to the US Open every year, but I'd love to experience a tennis match à la français!

    Mirka looks absolutely distraught! Oh Mon Dieu! Okay, so her name is cracking me up because it's reminding me of a different word. A different word that I will not share, in my Summer 2012 effort to being more mature, but still he he he....

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    1. Mirka? I'm completely clueless. Is the word that you're thinking of French or English?

      This reminds me of the time that I asked my daughter if she wanted her "Nuki" (pacifier) in front of my mother and some Australian friends. They started laughing at me because they thought that I was asking if she wanted "nooky" (sex). It was only years later that they finally explained to me what they were laughing about. Certain things go right over my head.

      As for the French Open - you would love it. Even when the French crowds are cheering for the wrong guy (Tsonga) as opposed to Wawrinka, it has been a lot of fun interacting with them in the stands.

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    2. Heartbreaking loss for Tsonga today, just heartbreaking. And ESPN here gave horrible coverage today, glad I have Tennis Channel--but I had to leave work to come home to watch the Fed match as my current clients don't have it! (This will have to be corrected in the near future.)

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  7. @Joseph, I know - I was so sad for Tsonga and the French. Djokovic made an impressive comeback. I watched the end of the match on one of the French channels and it was easy to know who the sportscasters wanted to win. Tsonga! I wasn't pleased with their coverage though because they only showed the interview with Tsonga and not with Djokovic. We really wanted to hear what he would say to console the French crowd and if he would say it in French or English.

    Roger had us worried yesterday. I almost called Stephane at work (something I rarely do) to tell him the score.

    I'm surprised that there isn't a clause in your contract stipulating that households must have the Tennis Channel!

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