THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE ! A TENNIS STORY BY SIGRID DRAPER

Written by: Staff on 13th January 2015

THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE ! A TENNIS STORY BY SIGRID DRAPER |

I DON’T REMEMBER HOW OLD I WAS THE FIRST TIME I HEARD SOMEONE SAY “IT’S THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE” BUT SINCE THAT TIME, IT HAS BEEN TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE “BEST SEAT’ IN THE HOUSE WAS THE BATHROOM. WE ONLY HAD ONE SHARED BY FOUR PEOPLE. NOT IMPOSSIBLE WHEN WE WERE ALL HEALTHY BUT WHEN WE WEREN’T, YOU COULD HEAR YELLING OF ‘HURRY UP, THERE IS A LINE OUT HERE’!

IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE I LEARNED THAT NO MATTER WHERE YOU WENT, THERE WAS ALWAYS A ‘BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE’. FOR EXAMPLE, RESTAURANTS, THEATRES AND SPORTING EVENTS. I LEARNED THAT THESE SEATS WERE RESERVED FOR VIPS! THESE WERE THE PEOPLE THAT COULD BUY THOSE SEATS OR WERE SO IMPORTANT THAT THEY WERE VISIBLE TO ALL OTHERS WHO WERE EASILY IMPRESSED BY THEIR PRESENCE. THUS ADDING PRESTIGE TO THEIR ESTABLISHMENT OR EVENT.

I DON’T FREQUENT MANY RESTAURANTS OR THEATRES BUT I DID HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND MANY SPORTS EVENTS, MAINLY TENNIS MATCHES. ALL DUE TO THE FACT THAT I ACCOMPANIED JUDGE ROBERT J. KELLEHER TO TENNIS RELATED EVENTS. HOW LUCKY WAS I TO HAVE THIS PRIVILEGE BECAUSE AS A FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE USLTA AND A FORMER DAVIS CUP CAPTAIN, HE WAS INVITED TO ALL OF THE GRAND SLAMS AND DAVIS CUP MATCHES. MOST OF THESE EVENTS, WE WERE SEATED IN THE “PRESIDENT’S BOX’. THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE ‘BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE’ EXPEREIENCE!

I RELISHED EVERY MOMENT OF IT! IT TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO REALIZE THAT THE ONES WHO BELONGED IN THOSE SEATS WERE NEVER INVITED. OH YES, EVERY YEAR THERE WAS DON BUDGE AND HIS WIFE LORI, SITTING IN THE FRONT ROW. HE DESERVED IT. HE WAS A LEGEND IN TENNIS! NEXT TO HIM WOULD BE THE PRESENT PRESIDENT OF THE USTA (NO LONGER THE US LTA TO JUDGE KELLEHER’S DISMAY) AND NEXT TO HIM OR HER THE FAMILY!

AS THE YEARS WENT BY, MANY CHANGES OCCURRED AND THE BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE BECAME LESS FRIENDLY AND INVADED BY LESS FAMILIAR FACES. THE BOX GOT BIGGER. MORE SEATS AND MORE STRANGERS. STRANGERS THAT WERE NOT KNOWN FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS OF TENNIS BUT MOVIE STARS, POLITICIANS AND FRIENDS OF THOSE IN CHARGE. THE ONLY THING THAT DIDN’T CHANGE WAS THAT THE HEROS OF THE GAME, THE PLAYERS WERE NEVER INVITED.

THE LAST TIME I HAD THE PRIVILEDGE OF BEING INVITED TO THE PRESIDENT’s BOX, THE BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE, WAS A REAL AWAKENING. WE NO LONGER HAD SEATS BUT WERE RELEGATED TO STAND IN THE BACK. I LOOKED TO SEE WHO WAS PRIVILEDGED TO BE SITTING IN THE ‘BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE’.\, I RECOGNIZED NO ONE.

OH MY, HOW TIMES HAD CHANGED. I TOOK A BREAK AND WENT TO THE SOUVENIR STAND TO BUY A MEMENTO OF MY VISIT TO THE US OPEN AS I HAD DONE EACH YEAR FOR 20 YEARS. ON MY WAY BACK I ENCOUNTERED PANCHO SEGURA. ONE OF THE GREAT TENNIS PLAYERS OF YEARS GONE BY AND NOW A DEAR, DEAR FRIEND. HE WAS CRYING. I INQUIRED AS TO WHY AS I PUT MY ARMS AROUND HIM. WITH TEAR FILLED EYES, HE REPLIED THAT HE TRIED TO GET IN THE PRESIDENT’S BOX AND WAS TOLD HE COULD NOT COME IN BECAUSE HE DID NOT HAVE AN INVITATION! HE HAD NO CREDENTIALS. HAD ANYONE OF THOSE BADGE WEARING OFFICIALS TAKEN THE TIME TO GOOGLE TENNIS HISTORY THEY COULD HAVE READ PAGES AND PAGES OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF PANCHO SEGURA . HAD PANCHO SEGURA GOOGLED ANY ONE OF THEM, THEY WOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE LOCAL WEATHER REPORT! MOST OF THEM NEVER EVEN HAD TEN MINUTES OF FAME OR ANY CONTRIBUTION TO THE GAME OF TENNIS!

I RETURNED TO MY SEAT AND TOLD THE JUDGE OF MY ENCOUNTER WITH SEGURA. WE BOTH LEFT AND FOUND THAT THE BEST SEAT IN THAT HOUSE ON THAT DAY WAS IN THE CORRIDOR, WITH SEGURA, HAVING A NICE COLD BEER. YES, THERE WE WERE WITH THE FANS WHO PAID FOR THEIR OVERPRICED TICKETS, BOUGHT THEIR OWN HOT DOGS, AND APPRECIATED THE GIFTED PLAYERS THAT PROBABLY ONE DAY WILL HAVE NO CREDENTIALS TO GET A ‘BEST SEAT’ IN THE PRESIDENT’S BOX. THEY WON’T MISS MUCH, AS THE SELF-SERVERS ENJOY THE FREE LICQUOR, FOOD AND AND INSINCERE SLAPS ON THE BACK, THESE HEROES WILL LOOK AT THEIR SHINY TROPHY’S, PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL THEIR PEERS AND REMENICE ABOUT THE GREAT SHOTS THEY MADE, THE ROAR OF THE CROWD WHO APPRECIATED THEM AND THEY WILL BE ABLE TO GOOGLE THEIR TRACK RECORDS THAT WILL REMAIN IN THE ARVHIVES OF HISORY. THE BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE ? WHO KNOWS WHERE THEY ARE? MY GUESS IS THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO REALLY KNOW ARE THE ONES WHO NEVER GOT TO SIT IN THEM! INCIDENTALLY, WHO SAT IT THOSE SEATS LAST YEAR? NO ONE KNOWS AND NO ONE CARES! BUT IAM SURE THEY WILL ALL BE BACK NEXT YEAR!