The whole audience was completely behind Pat. Surprisingly, there were in fact more men than women in the crowd. They were totally rooting for Pat and often jumped up in between points to celebrate when Pat was playing well. I was glad about this as it shows that while he is beautiful, his tremendous appeal is also for his game and personality.
I sat next to a Belgian woman whose 2 sons had been ballboys at a tournament Pat played in in February. She said that all the ballboys and girls and their parents always wanted to talk to Pat and he was always kind and generous to the children, spending time with them and then chatting with the parents.
On the other side of me I had 2 Parisian women all dressed up haute couture style and who thougt I was a freak with all my cheering- yes I was very loud. However, by the end the 2 french women were stamping their feet and yelling Allez Patrick so he had definetly converted them into hardcore fans.
As you all know the game was completed the next day so of course I had to return to RG. I recognized loads of the fans from the previous night so its great to see that Pat has committed fans in for the long haul.
Newc and Roche were there along with Lleyton and Steve. Jim and Jocelyn were there too which I thought was fantastic. Jocelyn showed absolutely no emotion during the game so maybe by appearing neutral rather than looking all nervous when Pat is loosing is better help for Patrick. It must be and I'm impressed that she can approach it like that. Jim as Jocelyn says is definetly a gentleman. He smiled throughout the game, even when things were going badly and looks like a man full of wise words for Pat. I'm glad that they can enjoy the grand slam experience and help Pat examine his goals.
Other notes: I think the French like Pat as in a newspaper called L'Equipe which follows RG closely a whole page was devoted to Pat.
I saw Mark P wandering around, Nick Bolliteri was never far behind so you've got to worry about Mark's future. Mark's hair is down to his shoulders so he soon might be wearing it like Pat.
Also, to my surprise, everyone in the audience at RG smokes. Can you imagine that happening in America or Australia. All the French and the photgraphers sit there and proceed to smoke throughout the match. This is a sports event and their smoking, is this ironic or what.
This is getting long but I was so excited to see Pat, I never hear much about him in America. I wish him well in his next round and I hope this has been informative to all of you.
love, Anne
