A Week In Paris

The Center Court at the Paris Masters tournament buzzes, literally. I arrived at Le Palais Omnisport de Bercy last Tuesday, late morning. Spectator numbers were sparse, and the sound was the first thing I noticed. Sitting alone in my seat, sans neighbours, I could hear a powerful hum, as though I was inside the bowels of a massive machine. In one of those cult science fiction TV series' I watched as a child, this sound effect might have been used on the flight deck of a spacecraft. It's probably from the generators controlling the heating and lighting in the arena, but it's always there - just more noticeable in the early days of the tournament. At the same time, the lack of bodies on seats meant that there was a thumping echo from the sound of feet in tennis shoes pounding on the wooden floors under the court.

Shortly after arriving, I went to change that day's seat, because it was in the courtside box area at one end of the Center Court, and anyone who sits here is cut off from the action by the presence of a high safety net, presumably there to stop flying balls. It's extremely distracting, though. The players' entourages are also stuck behind a similar net - these are some of the worst seats in the house. Anyone seriously intending to use a camera should definitely avoid them.

Returning to the court, the next thing that struck me was how dim the lighting is, compared to that at the Madrid Masters two weeks ago and the BlackRock Masters last December - and, having taken pictures at all three events, I can confirm that it's not just an impression born of the more cavernous nature of the arena in Paris. Photography there was far more challenging, with measurably less available light indoors. Also, its hue, unlike that in Madrid or at the BlackRock Masters, wasn't even close to being "daylight fluorescent". It's a certainty that the players' eyesight is better than mine, but it's something to which they will have had to adapt  - I imagine that the exact nature of the lighting changes week by week during the indoor season.

I'd been to the Paris Masters Series event once before, in 2002, but it was a brief visit. This week, I had far more time to get to know the tournament; In fact, after absorbing the feel of the main arena, I spent much of my first day and and a good part of the second on the other courts. Naturally enough, the management likes to schedule the French players prominently on Center Court in the early days, and this means that some very interesting matches between big-name players take place on Court 1, or even Court 2. All the headcases were out in force there. I watched Jamie and Andy Murray losing in doubles on Court 2, with accompanying groans of self-criticism, and Tommy Haas and Guillermo Canas ably demonstrating their racquet-throwing prowess on Court 1, while respectively defeating Janko Tipsarevic and Andreas Seppi. Canas talked continually - to himself, and at his coach.

These smaller courts in the early days are one of the hidden gems of an event like this. Tennis fans will love them, but they're are not glamorous. Court 2 looks like a school gym - as though it hasn't been repainted for at least a decade, with visible grime marks on the walls behind the functional blue plastic coverings behind the spectators. Court 1 has more seats, including the areas at either end of the court. It also has a standing area that's perfect for photography. In both locations, however, the seating is close to the court, and an added bonus is that for some reason both courts are better lit than Center Court, though the lighting is harsh and unflattering, if you're taking pictures. There are no separate tickets sold for the side courts - once inside the event, it's necessary to queue up for the available spaces there.

Late on the first day, I persuaded the Tribe's own MarieJ to join me at the event (she had originally planned to come slightly later in the week), and we went into Court 1 to watch Rafa and F-Lo try their hand at doubles. In fact, we needed to be there for a good part of the preceding match, between Canas and Seppi, in order to secure seats with the best view of the court. At either end, the audience are virtually on the same level as the players. It's an excellent angle to watch from, as you can get a close sense of the pace and tactics of a match. The experience is more intimate than you can realistically achieve on a main show court at any event - the players are standing right beside you, just on the other side of a flimsy barrier, when they step back to towel off during play.

We were near enough to the court during that match to add Rafa and F-Lo to the list of the day's headcases (all that was missing from the collection was Marat Safin), as both could be heard muttering incomprehensibly (and probably unprintably) when shots were missed, which was pretty often. You'll gather that they weren't having a particularly good day, although they managed to take the second set, eventually losing the tiebreak 7-10 after going ahead. Rafa looked as though he didn't want to be there at all, and the first set was strewn with Spanish errors. Their opponents? I had to look this one up - Jurgen Melzer and Todd Perry. My excuse for not knowing - the doubles was basically a prime photo-opportunity.

On the second day, we were again on Court 1, this time for David Nalbandian's 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Carlos Moya. It was a day when the matches on the Center Court finished early, leaving a gap before the evening session, so the court was packed. We were seated two rows behind David Nalbandian's support camp,  including his new coach, Martin Jaite. At the end of their row, Willy Canas was sitting on the steps watching, just in front of me. He was approached by a few children for autographs, which he looked happy to sign, but was mostly left in peace to watch the match.

I couldn't help thinking, close as I was, that he, like many other players I've seen in person, looks smaller - well, perhaps, less broad - than he appears on a widescreen TV. Bearing in mind previous comments I've seen here in TW about Canas' supposedly bulky physique, and connected suspicions related to his drug-testing suspension and what might be causing that supposed bulk right now - he looks, in person, like a normal, athletic type, even slightly slender by the standards of most people. Those TV screens are very deceptive in his case.

During the match, Rafa (his match with Filippo Volandri having finished earlier in the day) appeared and sat at the side of the court, not far from us. His girlfriend, Xisca, it seems, had been sitting there earlier, but rather more anonymously. No longer, once he arrived. Had MarieJ's eagle eyes not spotted him, his presence would have become obvious - even to someone with eyesight as poor as mine, given that at the first changeover after he appeared, a small crowd of children ran over to request autographs. Shortly afterwards, he left again, but came back again just in time to see the end, and a very cordial hug (even by today's standards on the ATP tour) between Nalbandian and Moya.

Concerning Rafa, the ambivalence of the French crowd was obvious. I've seen him play in the UK many times, and recently in Spain, as well as in Germany, and he's immensely popular with the crowds in those countries. Less so in Bercy. It's not that he doesn't have fans in France - plenty of them were loudly in evidence last week - but there are elements of the audience who demonstrate that they aren't fans. Before the players come on court, the crowd are encouraged to count down as they approach, so that the players emerge after a buildup. Before the semifinal with Marcos Baghdatis, the Cypriot (sometime honorary Frenchman that he is) received huge cheers - while a noticeable section of the crowd actually booed when Rafa came on court. Maybe all the Cypriot supporters were sitting near me - but Stanislas Wawrinka, a Swiss, received great crowd support during his match against Rafa, some of which did seem to be anti-Nadal sentiment. Watching Federer play Karlovic, the attitude of the crowd was very much pro-Federer.

I'd need to spend more time watching tennis in France to be sure, but my impression was that the crowd reactions are more extreme than in the UK. I sat through the quarterfinal night match between Andy Murray and Richard Gasquet, which had received a huge buildup beforehand, especially with a possible place in Shanghai still on the line for both of them. During the second set, Gasquet was heckled and booed by his home crowd. But in the third set, after Murray went down a break, he was being continually taunted by a couple of spectators, in English, telling him he'd be out of there soon. It wasn't pleasant - another spectator eventually shouted down the jeerers - and Murray certainly heard the comments, although he didn't rise to the bait.

One thing that really made my week was the presence of fellow TennisWorlders MarieJ (along with her sister, Isabel) and Miguel Seabra - we were all able to watch matches together at different times. Because the stadium was rarely full, we could usually find a way to sit together. rather than in our separate, assigned seats.

It's amazing that I started posting in TW during the US Open in 2006 and now, at the end of 2007, there we all were, from three different countries, watching tennis together, as a result of being TW regulars. This was the second tournament I've attended with MarieJ ( Roland Garros was the first), while I also had the opportunity to meet Miguel during Wimbledon earlier this year.

So far, during the first six installments of my "Rafa Euro-Spectator Slam", I've managed to meet up with fellow TennisWorlders during four of them (including D-Wiz at Wimbledon and Annabelle in Stuttgart) - and I'm not even in the US, where most TennisWorld readers live. Outside of tournaments, I've even managed to meet a couple more TennisWorlders - skip1515, and (sadly, extremely briefly, due to an unforeseen emergency) Andrew.

Will I visit Bercy again as a spectator? Certainly. In the past week, I've seen 16 of the current top 20 in action, and plenty of other players besides. I've sat in a nearly empty stadium to watch James Blake haul himself back from a set down to beat one of the locals, Nicolas Mahut (the match ended at 1 a.m, a timing glitch that  probably contributed to Blake's loss the following day by Richard Gasquet).

I'll also treasure the memories of Rafa convincingly beating  a nemesis, Mikhail Youzhny (Rafa lost to him at the U.S. Open of 2006, and this  year in Dubai), and the exciting, albeit heartstopping, semifinal in which Rafa came back from a set and a break down to beat Marcos Baghdatis (who was regularly hitting the corners with enormous winners for a set and a half). And It was also very, very interesting to see the creative and closely contested first set between Andy Murray and the man he admires so much, Fabrice Santoro. It's an odd time of the year for the tour, perhaps, but there was plenty to see - favourites, and others. Ticket prices are reasonable, and the venue itself is not far from the centre of Paris. The Palais is a vast, pyramidal concrete. glass and metal structure, with grass planted part way up the sides and the main entrance up several flights of steps on one side of the pyramid.

Location-wise, Bercy is right beside the Seine - an easy enough ride away from the Eurostar terminal at the Gare du Nord, and with  a Metro stop just outside. There are plenty of hotels near the site, which simplified my last-minute decision to continue my visit into the weekend. Towards the end of the week, there were many more spectators, but I was still able to secure tickets for the semifinals and finals at short notice, simply by queueing up.   MarieJ tells me that visitor numbers were improved this year, but the ticket-buying experience is orderly and pleasant, whether in person or over the Internet.

As for the final - it may not have had the outcome that I'd have wanted at the beginning of the week, but it will be something to remember, as much for the company I was in (MarieJ and Miguel) as the match itself (a Nalbandian master-class, at least during the ruthless second set). And then there were the glittering, scantily-clad ladies from the Lido cabaret show (Ed. note - I had to substitute one of the  pictures Rosia posted here because the ladies were dressed in completely sheer tops - PB), who were lined up to welcome the finalists onto court, and to surround the winner being photographed with his trophy. The finalists actually avoided looking at these women as they came onto court.

After the match, David Nalbandian's smile and his words "'I'm so happy!"certainly looked and felt spontaneous and unaffected, as did his rush to the stands to embrace his entourage afterwards.

It really is an intriguing story - new coach, improved fitness - and then taking two Masters Series titles in a span of three weeks, beating the world top three in the first, and the top two in the other, with no opportunity to meet the third. Where does David Nalbandian go from here? He's reached one goal he set himself before the US Open - to return to the top ten, and he might even play in Shanghai, if any player drops out. Then in 2008, as one of the tour's most consistent performers to date in going deep into Slams without having won one, can he mount a challenge in Australia?

What a pity we'll have to wait until January to find out.

-- Rosangel

[Note - links are provided below to various photo galleries that go with this post.

The photos of Rafa (with or without Xisca) above were taken on Court 1. The other photos of him with Xisca are on this link. Photos from the doubles match with F-Lo are here. Also. here are pictures from Rafa's match with Mikhail Youzhny, Rafa's match with Stanislas Wawrinka, Rafa's match with Marcos Baghdatis, and Rafa's final against David Nalbandian (not many on the last link - few worth showing!).

And finally, here is a set of pictures of other players, for those who don't wish to look solely at Nadal pictures. Close-ups of Carlos Moya, and a few shots of the Lido girls included. To enlarge any picture, click on it, and use the arrows to page through.].