06/06 - Roland-Garros : Best quote, 2009

SPORTS / TENNIS : ROLAND-GARROS / "Un Autre Regard" by Nicolas Rey / 06/06 - Roland-Garros : Best quote, 2009

Every year at the French Open, there's one quote that rises above all others. A funny quote that wasn't meant to be. A quote that will survive the past, the present and the foreseeable future. I think I've found the best quote of this year's tournament. Fasten your seat-belts. It doesn't seem like much. It's from Fernando Gonzalez: "I never thought I'd beat Andy Murray 6-0, not even in ping-pong."That's telling 'em, Monsieur Gonzalez. You've just concluded a match against Andy Murray, a match that went on for hours, and you're reminded of a game of ping-pong — that's just the kind of surrealist touch this sport needs. And, as it happens, I play a pretty good game of ping-pong myself. I can beat just about anyone! Hey, Mr. Federer, get over here, I challenge you to a game of 21 points, in my parents' garage, in Manosque, in the French Alps. I recommend intense psychological preparation before the match. I'm capable of delivering, in ping-pong, volleys of a particularly vicious nature. So, Roger, to spice up the deal, I'll ask Jean-Paul Lott, the former French Open commentator, to be our referee. His class, his calm demeanor, his langourous tone and his British equanimity will break your concentration in the final moments. To sum up, friends, I have to make a confession. In ping-pong, nobody is more perverse than I am.As Oscar Wilde once wrote, perversity "is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others."Be very afraid, Roger. — Nicolas Rey