The main things that come to mind when I remember the Roland Garros 2000, have to be how un-fan friendly the tournament really is, but also the fantastic time we had mixing with the players in the players lounge, thanks to tickets left for Stacey and I, by Arantxa, and Patricia Tarabini, and the wonderful people I had the pleasure of meeting to support Arantxa, Magüi, Conchita, etc.
And it was in the Parisian capital of France, that Beatriz, Stacey and I, collectively making up a half of what would come to be known as ‘Magüi Mania’, were first to meet one another ‘in real life’.
In fact the precise place of the first ever meeting of ‘Magüi Maniacs’ was Gare Du Nord station, as Beatriz came to meet the train on which Stacey and I were arriving from London, Waterloo. And there, the three of us instantly hit it off.
On that first day, we decided to go and check out Stade Roland Garros, so we could all get our bearings, and work out our plan of action for the next day, as I had been the only one who had been to the French Open before, and well, we all know what my sense of direction is like, right girls?!?!?!
Following the officials instructions to us, that night, the next day, we arrived at the Porte Suzanne Lenglen gate at about 7am, to queue for whatever tickets were on sale for that day. However, after queuing until about midday, finally we were told that there were in fact no tickets on sale that day, and so the only way to get inside the gates would be to buy tickets off the ticket touts, who were selling them for anything up at 1, 800 French Francs, some £180, - now please bear in mind, that during the 1st week, whilst on the metro, Beatriz, Stacey and I saw a poster advertising a 10 day holiday to Turkey for 1, 500 French Francs! - and this would be an experience which would repeat itself time and time again throughout the tournament, until Arantxa was kind enough to start leaving us tickets!
On the Monday, as neither Arantxa, Magüi, or Conchita were playing, we resisted paying these insane prices, and did some sightseeing instead, however, on the Tuesday we caved in, and bought tickets, but it was worth it, as we had one of the most fun days ever at the tennis, despite the day ending up totally devoid of play, due to the incessant rain!
The First Tuesday.
It was on the first Tuesday, when Beatriz, Stacey, and I met up with a whole group of Spanish girls, who Beatriz had met a week previously at the tournament in Madrid, and we spent most of the day with them. We soon became friends, and had a great time with them, singing and chanting in the covered walkway under Court Central, and after that, we spent the whole tournament together, going to as many Spanish players matches as possible, and annoying the hell out of the French crowd...even screaming ‘Vamos’ in the special way they scream ‘allez’!!! At various times during the tournament we thought they might actually kill us, but we somehow managed to survive, and even managed to garner some fans of our own, including a woman who approached us on the metro, wanting to tell us how "awesome" we were, and wanting our e:mail addresses so that she could stay in contact with us!!!
The Magüi vs. Arantxa Matches.
Being an Arantxa fan, and a soon to be ‘Magüi Maniac’, the 1st round Womens doubles, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario/ Laurence Courtois vs. Magüi Serna/ Meghann Shaunessy and 3rd round Womens singles, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario vs. Magüi Serna matches, were particularly hard for me. However, seeing as how Arantxa had given me free tickets to watch both matches, I kind of felt obliged to cheer for her, though this didn’t stop me from feeling really mean, for cheering against Magüi! However, I point blankly refused to cheer, period, if Magüi was anywhere near me!!!!
Both these matches were pretty tight, and it was difficult to predict the winner until the end. Although I was sorry that Arantxa lost in the 1st round of the doubles, I was happy for Magüi to have won the match!
In the singles, it was the reverse; I felt sad for Magüi to have lost, when she had a great chance to beat Arantxa, however, I would have hated for Arantxa to have suffered her earliest loss at Roland Garros since 1990, so all-in-all, I was pleased with the way both matches had turned out.
Our New-Found Friends.
As was to be the trend of all the tennis tournaments I attended this summer, the best thing about Roland Garros 2000, was the people; from mixing with the players in the players lounge, getting free tickets, and a ‘phone call at our hotel from Arantxa, having Patricia Tarabini buy us food and alcohol, and being semi-drunk in the players area under court Suzanne Lenglen, with Yanaris, Patricia Tarabini and Conchita Martínez's friend, through to each and everyone one of the people I met and supported ‘our’ Spanish players with - Beatriz, Stacey, María, Arantxa, Charo, (even if you did support Conchita against Arantxa, we still love you!), Isabel, Maribel, Dominique, Marivi, Aurora and Graciela. I miss you guys already!! You were all so much fun!!
I hope we can repeat our Roland Garros 2000 experiences, as far as possible, in 2001!! I’m already looking forward to meeting up with everyone again!!!!
