Steffi Takes Her Seat(s) and Anna Loses One
by Craig Thomas
What a mistake! Frenchman Arnaud Clement was not the only one who
was relieved when he came back from two sets and match point down in
his semi-final against his countryman Sebastian Grosjean. Not only
was there no biography of Grosjean, the 16th seed, in the official
Australian Open program (despite there being 30 of other male players),
the only photo of him accompanied the bio of Dominik Hrbarty! Well
done Tennis Australia!
For many fans, one of the highlights of Andre Agassi's matches at the
Tennis Centre seems to be the presence in the crowd of his current
girlfriend, and of course former tennis champ, Steffi Graf. During
the first couple of matches Andre played last year Steffi had no
sooner taken her seat than she was approached by fans seeking her
autograph. However by the second week of last year, and for all of
this year, Steffi has been protected by up to eleven security guards
lining the row either side of her seat and at the top of the stairs
where she enters and leaves. And where does she sit? Preferring to
be in seated in the shade, Steffi, along with Andre's coach Brad
Gilbert and his bodyguard Gil Reyes, take up five seats in the middle
of the media section, with Steffi in the middle, a spare seat between
her and each of the other two. Such are the perks of being a 22 time
Grand Slam singles winner!
And given that some local scribes are now referring to the Tennis
Centre as Kournikova Park, we could not leave without one final
story about Anna. Apparently, a few days back, Patrick Rafter stood
at the head of the queue of people waiting for a courtesy car, which
are provided to pick up the players and convey them to and from their
hotel. As the car pulled up, however, Anna appeared from nowhere and
slipped past Rafter and into the back seat. But before the blonde
star could be whisked away a somewhat annoyed Rafter opened the door
and politely pointed her in the direction of the end of the queue.
And to the amusement of those who witnessing the incident, an
embarrassed Anna had no choice but to comply!
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https://tennis-ontheline.com/01aoct7.htm © 2025
Last updated 26 September 2015
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