04/06 - Roland-Garros : "The girl in the red sweater"

SPORTS / TENNIS : ROLAND-GARROS / "Un Autre Regard" by Nicolas Rey / 04/06 - Roland-Garros : "The girl in the red sweater"

In the crowd at centre court there's always a girl in a red sweater. This has been the case for years. The girl is always very pretty and she wears — even on cloudy days — huge sunglasses. I've never really understood why. The girl is an enigma. Every year at the French Open there must be a secret jury, maybe even a cult, that selects the girl in the red v-neck sweater from among thousands of candidates. I ask myself countless questions about this young woman. Does she play tennis, for example? Does she have a two-handed backhand? Is she married to a famous player? Does she practice ABN (that is, Anyone But Nadal)? Courageously peering through my own Gucci glasses, I can spend whole afternoons watching this girl without even once taking a look to see what's happening on the court. The players could turn into Spiderman or Wall-E and I wouldn't notice.I wonder what this young woman eats, or what kind of toothpaste she uses. I wonder if she likes tea in the morning or Nespresso at night. I wonder if she prefers Spain or Italy. I wonder if she puts on the radio when she wakes up. Shower or relaxing bubble bath? What's her opinion on tax havens and Pete Doherty?I wonder how she imagines herself in 20 years. I wonder if she's going to leave the stadium by foot, in a limousine, in a Smart, on a scooter or in the subway.If this were a game of roulette in a casino, I'd bet on the scooter, like in La Dolce Vita. — Nicolas Rey