Who do you have to be to earn a higher amount of applause than Roger Federer, add to that when you are in the same arena as Federer? Prince William. As 15,000 spectators calmly watched another Federer victory, we were all in for a HUGE treat. At the start of the third and final set, a huge buzz formed over the crowd and people began to cheer. As I turned my eyes to the large jumbo tron I see a familiar but out-of-context face - Prince William, joining all us peasants for a third set to watch King Rog.
Little did I know when I woke up this morning that I'd be seeing Prince William this evening. My sister and I always had a bet - we each had five years to meet one famous person of our choosing and we both agreed on that famous person when we made our pact. Mine was Wills. I say I've come closer now - hers was Elijah Wood. While we were two degrees of separation away from Frodo when we met Gandalf in London, this takes the cake!
Sitting with my new New Zealand friend, a reporter from Auckland, we watched Rog finish off the last set and win, as flashes shot out from the crowd -10 per second - to take a pic of Wills, sitting front row centre behind the net. My keen eye spotted dozens of British Secret Service agents standing around various spots of the arena, most of them behind Wills guarding the stairs or the seats around him. It was all very James Bond.
The match ended and I bee-lined it back to the media room to see if I'd catch Rog or Wills in the main lobby. Darn, it was just Rog's wife Mirka, another boring sighting - just kidding! I also shared some alone time with Marcos Baghdatis who was waiting for his girlfriend, albeit NOT Prince William, by the exit for the stadium. Rog and Wills, aka King and Prince, must have been in a secure location discussing the weather or Rog's forehand. What do you talk about with the best tennis player in the world? Counter that, what do you say to the most famous Prince in the world? I would have loved to know.
Either way, I know it's been a few days since a blog posting from me - so I hope this one makes up for it! Getting a computer here and taking a moment to blog is tough. Work is going really well and I have to pinch myself every time I sit in my (estimated) $100 seat in Rod Laver arena, with my giant hot dog and my plastic cup of Jacob's Creek wine. This is spectacular, I should make a profession out of this.
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I loved the story about Wills/Frodo and your sister. Hilarious. Does being in his vicinity count towards the bet? BTW, Nisa has a picture of herself and "Wills" from London. Jealous.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the tournament has been the experience of a lifetime! Im so happy for you and cant wait to hear all the non-publishable gory details on my return!