US OPEN*99
I had never been much interested in tennis, perhaps because without cable TV I was unable to watch it. But everything changed when I saw Pat play Krajicek on a video tape lent to me by a friend ( Toronto*98 final ). It was like lightning from the sky. One glance at Pat was enough for me to realise that my life would never be the same again. I have asked my parents for cable TV to watch Patty and I bought myself a tennis racquet- PRINCE, of course. I started to watch all Patrick' matches that I could find on TV and I started to buy tennis magazines. When my parents asked me : "What would you like to receive if you passed your University exams?" I said : "Go to the US Open and see Pat." My mum works for the Polish Airlines and that' why I have much cheaper tickets. Why did I choose New York? First of all because of the fact that the Polish Airlines fly there and rent a hotel not far away from the Flushing Meadows. The second reason's that the Open lasts when students still have vacation and the third that I knew Pat would be there for sure. As we all know the last reason wasn's so sure at all.
Fortunately I passed my exams despite watching tennis instead of learning hard. My brother even said : "If you don't pass these exams it will be because of spending so many hours on watching tennis tournaments".
When I finally landed in New York I didn't even have the tickets for the tournament. But my dreams started to come true. On Thursday (26th August) I went to the Flushing Meadows for the first time. The entry was free so me and my mum decided to look around. We watched Tieleman play Hood and we really enjoyed it. He plays serve-and-volley too and he's only two weeks older than Patty. I found him a very nice person and took photo with him and asked him for an autograph. The line-man gave me a wristband that Tieleman left on the court. It's a great souvenir.
Next day me and my mum went to Manhattan because we had heard that Pat's going to sign autographs in Mace. I guess we missunderstood it cause when we got there there was nothing like that. We came to Flushing at 5pm when all matches were finished. I was very disappointed because I couldn't find Patty anywhere and I didn't even know if he had arrived yet.
On Saturday it was Arthur Ashe Kids Day. I arrived at 10am but all the tickets to the Central Court were sold out. Fortunately I managed to buy "Day Session" tickets for Monday and Tuesday and I made friend with a man working in the Ticket Office called Vio. I didn't know where to go first so I chose court No.5. And there he was having a practice with Hewitt. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was standing there and thinking : "Is it happening for real or am I only dreaming?" It was the moment my dreams did come true * I saw my beloved player, a person who means everything to me and who doesn't even know that I exsist. I was like a kind of magic. Unfortunately I came too late and after about 10 minutes the training was finished. I was standing on the wrong side of court and when I run to the other side I could only see Pat's back. But what a back it was! He went to the Arthur Ashe Stadium and I couldn't join him as I had no ticket. So I was waiting for him in front of President's Gate and after a few hours I saw him again! He had no pony-tail and he looked so sweet! He signed a lot of autographs and when his car drove away I went back home.
The followig day was similar. Patty arrived at 11am * he was wearing a dark blue Reebok T-shirt and DMX Reebok base cap in the same colour. Then he was training for about 1,5h on the closed court. He was playing without his T-shirt and many people, mostly female fans, were putting their cameras into the holes in the fence to take a photo or just have a look at him. So was I! My God, what a view it was! He finished his training at about 13.00 and he left the court without a T-shirt and signed some autographs. I asked him if he could give me his base cap but I think he didn't even hear my question as there were so many fans aroud him asking for autographs. At 14.00 he went out from the President's Gate wearing a dark blue T-shirt, red shorts and his trade-mark pony-tail. The fans were all around him and he signed many pictures, caps and US Open passports, including mine! Then he drove away.
On Monday I spent another 10 hours on the courts. I arrived at 10am and left at 22.00. At about 11.00 I met Patty's brother, Pete. When I asked him for an autograph he was more than suprised : "I'm not a player, I'm a coatch" he said and I told him I knew it and asked him about a date of Pat's training. He said he would play on the closed court at 12.00. I can't forgive myself that I didn't ask Pete if there was any chance to take a photo with Patrick. I was watching Pat using the holes in the fence ( I could spend the rest of my life on looking at him) but about 13.00 people from TV appeared and had an interview with Patty. When it was finished Pat signed a lot of autographs, he even signed my baseball cap! Then he went to the building and I didn't saw him that day again. Although I had a ticket for Arthur Ashe Stadium I watched only one match that day. It was Tieleman vs Dent played on the court 11th . Tieleman won it 6:2,7:5,6:4. When I went back home I spent over 3 hours in front of the computer looking for Pat's pages on Internet. I went to bed at 3am and woke up at 7am.
When I reached the Flushing Meadows I found out that Pat's match had been planned on about 9pm. I didn't know what to do as I had no ticket for "Evening Session" and I knew my mum would never let me go back home at 12pm. Fortunately Vio helped me. I told him that I had travelled over 8,000 km to see Pat and he not only bought me a ticket but also drove me home after the match. That day I was waiting for Pat's arrival for about 8 hours because I didn't know when he's going to arrive. After he did, he had a warm-up during which he looked so happy and relaxed. He was smilling and joking.
Just before the match I went to the President's Gate and I saw there Peter and Lara and I can't forgive myself that I didn't request them to take a picture with me. Then I went to the Arthur Ashe Stadium to take my sit. Unfortunately I was surrounded by French fans so I decided to change sit. I had made a slogan with words : "Three-peat Patrick" and I was holding it over my head and shouting :"Come on Pat", "Go Aussie","Come on Shunky", "Patrick" so loudly that my mum who was watching this match on TV could hear me. Pat won the first set 6:4 as well as the second but then the third set started and I knew he's not OK. anymore. His arm started to pain and it had results in Patty's game as he lost the third set 3:6. It was not much better in the fourth set which ended with a score 7:5 for Pioline. When Pioline broke Pat's service on the beginning of the fifth set Pat decided to retire. I supported him with all my heart but it's just impossible to defeat such a sharp pain. I knew he did his best and tried to play and fight as long as he could but finally the pain was too strong. He wasn't able to serve as precisely as normally and decided it's no use playing and suffering longer. If Patty hadn't stopped he could have hurt his arm even more. It was the only way and he made a right decision. The spectators should have accepted it with understanding and respect he deserves and thanked him for his effort. Their behaviour was scandalous and simply not fair! I couldn't understand why they were booing and whistling. They must have seen that Pat was in agreat pain, not only phycical but mental as well.When I saw that Patty's going to the net to tell Pioline that he can't play any longer I moaned: "Oh no!" but then I stood up and started to clap my hands to thank him for his game and so did many people around me. That's what I call being real tennis fans. I was heart-broken but I knew my darling lost not to Pioline but to an arm injury. I was so sorry for him besause I knew how much this tournament meant to Pat and how historical it could be. When Vio drove me back home I watched the match again on a video tape and I'll never forget the way he looked just after the match. The look of his beloved face was so heart-breaking, he sat down and hid his face under the towel in order to no-one could see it. When I went back to Poland I watched the tape my fiend recorded for me from German TV (DSF). It's the press conference and it proved how broken-down Patty was. Normally he's relaxed and smiles a lot but that night it was nothing like that. He was very serious and my heart was bleeding when I was looking at him. I wished I could have hold him and told him that he had done his best.
I was heart-broken but I must say that I spent in New York the most beautiful week in my life and I felt as if I were in a fantasy land. Unfortunatey I didn't touch Pat despite the fact he was so close and I didn't tell him how much I admire him and how much he means to me . There is nothing I wouldn't do for him. If I could reach the stars I would give them all to him. I don't know why I didn't try. I guess I was too shy. When you are so close to him and look at his smilling face you simply can't think rationally. I was standing there and asking myself: "Am I really here? Am I really looking at Patrick Rafter?" Even now, over a month after the US Open, I still can't stop thinking about it. It's been the first tennis tournament I've ever been to and I do hope it's not the last one. It's been seven days of my life and I will never fotget them.
ULA from Poland (Pattyfanatic@email.com)
The photo above was taken during the press conference after Patty's match against Pioline. I guess the look of Pat's face says everything and shows how broken-down he was.
