A lot of things can happen there! After being part of the locker room staff for the first time, I look back and realize that taking part of the duMaurier Open was similar to taking an emotional rollercoaster ride. I learned that anything and everything must be expected: some chaos, some excitement, some intensity, some sadness but most importantly a lot of FUN!

Arrivals

The week prior to the start of the tournament everyone is involved with major preparations. It's important to have all equipment on hand (i.e. towels, food, water, ice, practice balls, shampoo, etc.) so that the staff is ready when Qualifications start and dozens upon dozens of players flood in. The first few days on the job are surely the busiest but undeniably the greatest, fun-wise. It's the best feeling to see players arrive at the stadium. (Especially when you're a big tennis fan like moi.)

A vivid memory of mine was when I first saw Steffi. Although she was just standing in the lounge talking to someone, I felt immense happiness seeing her there. Having all these players parade in front of you is awe-inspiring. I think everyone working in the locker room was a little star struck in the beginning. We had an undeniably outstanding draw (like they have at Grand Slams). Indeed, we felt lucky and privileged to see the world's best.

And so, as we were able to get familiar with our tasks, we tried to get as accustomed as possible to seeing Martina, Anna and Irina to the right; Jana, Conchita and Mary to the left; Steffi, Amanda and Mary Joe a little further across the room. Needless to say, a sight like that manages to leave you speechless.

Tasks

This is a brief look at our responsibilities.
Behind the counter:

• Give practice balls: Relatively simple task, until the time we ran out of balls (or almost). We were able to get by with the use of Match balls.
• Provide water and other fluids: Green Powerade was more popular than dark-blue Powerade. Most popular soft drink was Diet Coke. No better orange juice than Tropicana (it rules! - my own opinion)
• Answer the phone: Enjoyable task when you actually have the answers to what the person is asking for.

• Book practice courts: Mostly taken care of by the head of our team. Relatively complicated task when there has been a rain delay.
• Provide lollipops: Everyone loved these - I must admit they're very addictive. (Arantxa and Steffi have taken handfuls at a time.) Coca-Cola was the least popular flavour.
• Provide fruits: Bananas were mostly green the first half of the time. Bananas were mostly brown the remaining half of the time. Grapes were most popular but the least of what we had in stock.
• Refill lollipop jar: Self-explanatory task.

Away from the counter:

• Picking-up-after in the lounge and locker room: Frightening task the first couple of days due to masses of people coming in and out. During "rush hour", a clean area can go to messy within 10 minutes. Otherwise fine task to handle.
• Picking-up-after on the practice courts: Great on a sunny day. Horrid on a rainy day. Early in the morning, there are no ball boys/girls to help dry up the court.

Possible babysitting: Little Arnaud (son of Nathalie Tauziat's coach) needed supervising from time to time, when Nathalie had a match scheduled.

• Towels, soap, shampoo, water: Made sure we never ran out. (Must note that we never worried about the soap provided by the Radisson Hotel - very few people used them. I suspect it was the fragrance, which I can't say I was too keen on either.)
• Posting latest scores and newspaper clippings: Made use of photocopying machines. Informed the hotel or anyone who asked about the completed match scores. Tedious task.

All in all, we try to be on top of things at all times in order to provide the very best of service.

Tidbits

This is a list of some interesting minor details that I noticed throughout the week in Montreal.

• Steffi likes to practice early in the morning.
• Martina mostly practiced on indoor courts.
• From what I've seen - Monica, Steffi and Anna practice and train harder than Martina, Conchita and Jana.
• Yayuk, Caroline Vis, Irina, Patricia Tarabini and Conchita hang out together.
• Sandrine Testud plays backgammon.
• Jana spent a lot of time on the phone.
• Anna and Martina are very neat. Their clothes are always nicely folded.
• Steffi drinks Sprite and also dark blue Powerade, which she occasionally mixes with water.
• Martina drinks Diet Coke.
• Monica's mom prefers water at room temperature.
• Jana listens to her CD player before a match.
• Anna's mom and coach are very kind people.
• The French players have a great sense of humour.
• Martina speaks French.
• Conchita is very laid back.

Matches

Another fun part of my week was being able to see matches. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the doubles this year on the outer courts.

Martinez/Tarabini put on such a performance when they play, it becomes difficult to recall the matches without a smile on my face. The night they played against Kunce/Morariu, Patricia got a bad call on Match Point! She was clearly pissed at the line's judge and screamed with frustration. Despite that after winning the match, she went up to the line's judge and ordered him to slap her five. She insisted many times but he refused. Her persistence, however, prevailed and they ended up shaking hands. My other favorites were Graf/Gorrochategui and the always fun to watch top seeds Hingis/Novotna.

I was thrilled to see Jana and Conchita win their singles matches. But, tennis being such a competitive sport, thrills can quickly change to sorrows. When Steffi played against Magui Serna and she was down match point. Almost everyone in the lounge ended up in front of the TV. My knees were actually shaking at the thought of the upset. This was a strong memory of mine but an odd feeling to describe because I was watching the same TV screen as Martina, Jana, Irina and Anna were.

The oddest experience though had to be right after the nail biting third set between Jana and Arantxa that I was nervously watching in the player's lounge (I could actually hear the cheers and applauds sitting inside they were so loud). It was seeing Jana entering the room immediately after Arantxa's well-deserved and hard fought victory that was an inexplicably weird and crushing feeling. Usually, when you watch a match on TV and a player that you were routing for loses, it's painful but at least you don't see them 30 seconds afterwards! The fact that I could not talk to Jana who was so close by gave me a terrible aching inside.

I came to the conclusion that it is much safer to watch practices. You always have fun memories then. I fondly recall seeing Steffi practice with Ines. It was powerful tennis from the baseline and I even got to hear Steffi speak a bit of Spanish. To see Jana kick tennis balls, Monica grunt and Anna hitting away during their practices is also another very special recollection of mine.

Departures

Obviously, the worst part of the tournament is the good byes. The days went by very fast and the people seem to have left just as quickly as they had arrived. Martina and Monica had signed racquets that were auctioned for a children's hospital. A lot of pictures and posters were autographed by Anna, Arantxa, Martina and Jana before they departed. After her victory, Monica left pretty quickly to catch her flight and she did all her signing in the car on the way to the airport.