The Gerry Weber Open 2004 tennis tournament (June 7 to 13, 2004) in the German city of Halle/ Westfalen made the scene for a meeting far away from home: Indian football meets Indian tennis!
I was not only able to witness Indian tennis star Leander Paes clinching the doubles title alongside with his Czech partner David Rikl, but also meet the star twice. Paes is well known for his great interest in football and skills on the football field. Furthermore he is a supporter of East Bengal Club.
The Gerry Weber Open 2004 proved to be a very competitive tennis tournament and Paes/Rikl showed their class while winning the title easily. The Indian showed a rising form, while the Athens Olympic Games are approaching fast.
The Indo-Czech duo impressed the German spectators incl. a one-man Indian fan club (myself, somewhere in the upper deck of the Gerry Weber stadium) as they easily rushed into the final beating Lopez/Sargsian 6:2, 7:6 on Saturday.
Just minutes after the match, I met Leander and his girlfriend Mahima Chaudhury (Bollywood actress) outside the stadium. Leander asked me to follow him to the hotel ground, while security passed us through the masses of fans.
Leander and I were able to chat for about 15 minutes on several issues, incl. the 7-0 trashing of the Indian football team by Japan (Lee’s reaction: “Oh Jesus!”).
Fortunately I was able to get one of the last tickets for the final day and to support Lee and Rikl, while the whole Indian nation was hoping for a title for the Calcutta lad after a long time.
The final day started with an exhibition match followed by the singles final, where Swiss star Roger Federer defended his title beating Mardy Fish from the US.
Then the moment came everyone was waiting for: Paes/Rikl vs Tomas Cibulec/Petr Pala (both Czech Republic)! And I myself placed in a VIP-box in the first-row of a half-filled stadium, getting excited and nervous while the players entered the field.
Lee nodded his head to greet me, while warming-up - a great feeling I must say (especially because the Germans wondered who I might be, hehe)… The match showed tennis at its best. The fast and spectacular game on the grass, the fantastic fans in Halle and of course the final result delighted everyone sitting in the stadium and in front of their tv sets. The Paes/Rikl combination won the Gerry Weber Open doubles title through a 6:2, 7:5 trashing of Cibulec/Pala.
Once again I met Leander and Mahima minutes after the victory and congratulated Lee for this outstanding performance.
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