‘Take care, Nasty. I have to get back to the press room.’
‘Very funny you call me that. I like it.’ She turned and started to walk back to the sofa, then stopped, turned back and called out, ‘He likes you, too.’
My mouth open, I looked at her. Having achieved the desired affect, she smiled, giggled, picked up her racquet bag and skipped off towards the locker room.
Back on my silent stage that night, I hummed ‘Viva Las Vegas’ and drilled balls against the back wall. Today was a good day. Venus smiled at me. A few of the players recognised me, even though they did not remember my name.
With a solo rally going, counting my strokes gave me something to strive for. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. ‘Damn.’
‘You need to shorten your backswing.’ I turned around too fast, losing my ba
