The Last Day

8:00 AM
I’m up and ready to leave the apartment early today. It’s my last day in Paris and I want to make the most of it.
A young boy is walking his dog .. or is the dog walking Mick? There is a new service in Paris that I love!! Bicycle rentals are available near metro stations and major attractions. You just swipe your credit card, grab a bike and away you go. The rate is 1 euro per hour. You can ride to your destination, return the bike, then when you are ready to go again, rent another. Perfect! Sometimes I use this to get back to the apartment after a long night our, rather than fight for a taxi. This is such a great idea; I hope it spreads to the US.
It’s a beautiful morning and I ride along the river to Notre Dame. As I approach the cathedral I can hear the chiming of the church bells, and I imagine The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimoto, swinging from the ropes, tolling their music over the square.

I enter through tall carved doors, the scent of incense fills the air, a choir is singing the mass in Latin to the sounds of a huge pipe organ, young priests light tall candles, sunlight filters through stained glass windows. No matter what your belief, the ancient ritual of the mass is impressive.

Later, I walk along the small streets of the Latin Quarter, quiet now, before the shops open. I love the early morning, when you can image these streets 200 years ago. 11:30 AM The site is already filling with spectators, workers, and media, a quartet plays traditional french tunes, there is an air of anticipation. No matter who wins today, it will be a big story.

Federer is going for history, if he wins he will join an elite group of players to win a Grand Slam on all four surfaces, and tie Pete’s record of 14 Grand Slam singles wins.

I hope someone remembers to put a large box of Kleenex near Rogers’s chair. Win or loose, there is sure to be a lot of tears.

Soderling, on the other hand, is at the opposite end of the scale. This will be his debut in a Grand Slam final and he would be the first Swede to win since Matts Willander in 1988. He’s been on a roll and has nothing to loose.

12:40 PM
Soderling is warming up with his coach, Magnus Norman, who was the last Swede to reach the final, in 2000. He was defeated by Brazilian star, Gustavo Kuerten in four sets.

3:00 PM

Show time and the sky is looking very threatening, there is a cold wind, rain is predicted and seems emanate.

3:40PM

Someone from the stands behind me jumps over my head and runs onto the court! I can’t believe my eyes! What is going on? He is dressed in red and yellow .. the color of the Spanish flag.. and is waving a banner around as though he is a bull fighter. Is this a Nadal supporter hoping to rattle Federer? Roger tries his best to ignore him, but he persists, and at one point actually took off his hat and tried to put it on Roger.

Security finally wakes up and starts chasing the guy around the court, but he jumps the net and avoids them until a guard coming from the other side finally wrestles him to the court.

4:00 PM

It’s dark, cold and raining but the umpire doesn’t want to stop the match. Roger is giving him looks, but play continues. I notice that even though it’s really dark now, Eva and Tony are still wearing sunglasses. Do celebrities have more sensitive eyes than the rest of us?

5:15 PM

It’s raining pretty hard, but play continues.. this is reminding me of the Wimbledon final last year. At least the players get someone to hold an umbrella over them on the changeover.

8:20 PM

I’m still in the press room editing photos. By now all of you know that Roger won.

The trophy presentation was special. One of the ball girls led Roger to the platform .. can you believe what a thrill it must have been for her? Andre Agassi, looking wonderful in a smart black suit presented the trophy. It was really raining hard by this time, but the players had speeches and wanted to thank everyone, and no one seemed to mind getting soaked.

Soderling was first and was pretty funny saying at one point, " my coach and I were "yoking".. joking to all the non swedes.. yes they really do talk like that .. anyway they were yoking that Roger had beat him 9 times, so he couldn't possible beat him 10 in a row.. but of course he did.

Okay, it's finally done, the trophy photos are finished and everyone heads for the warm dry media room

9:00 PM

I need to pack my gear and head for the shuttle, so that's it for this French Open. Catch you in two weeks at Wimbledon.