���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Cool. �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� icon and my tennis idol — ROGER FEDERER — one of the most famous athletes of all time, and a genuine nice guy. I was wearing my press credentials proudly around my neck as I was called on to ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� he walloped Stephane Robert in just 51 minutes on a hot night at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. 80 SCENE | JUNE 2017 Tennis Gardens. The smell of sweet orange blossoms permeated the well-maintained hacienda-style property. It was heavenly. For the next two mornings, we started our day playing in tennis clinics at another exquisite resort — LaQuinta — before heading over to watch tennis. Billionaire Larry Ellison of Oracle fame owns the Tennis Gardens. He has made great improvements to this tournament over the years he has owned it including major renovations to the main stadium, putting shot spot on every court in the stadium, installing lots of Brita water ������������������������������������������������������������������ bottles, and great dining choices including Nobu and Chop House on the well- “Roger, you were moving amazingly well out there. Great match tonight. How are ������������������������������������������������������������ I know what you’re thinking. That’s the best you could come up with? Well, when Roger Federer is looking at you from six feet away, yes, that was the best I could do. He looked right at me, only me, as he gave me his thoughtful reply. After they moved on to the next journalist’s question, I don’t think I heard another �������������������������������������������������������������� time in my life, dazed and star struck. I’ve met Sinatra, Pavarotti, Liza Minnelli, Dean Martin, and a host of other well-known celebrities. They were great, but none could compare to being face to face with King Roger. He glided into the media interview room for his post match press conference just as he glides on the court. Just before sitting down, he smiled at everyone and said, “Are �������������������������������������������������������������� there is no one else I would be waiting for, I thought to myself. Dina Malloch, my good �������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������� next to me, snapping away as Roger answered my question. After the interview was over, we walked out in disbelief, both confessing to be a bit shaken. We had been six feet away from our tennis god. He spoke to us. Life would never be the same. There’s a reason his initials are RF — they are the middle letters of the word PERFECT — and that pretty much sums up Roger Federer. But let’s go back to the beginning… We excitedly arrived at the Miramonte Resort, a short distance from the Indian Wells planned and easily navigable grounds. He brought in fresh young blood — ATP player Tommy Haas - to be the tournament director for what is considered ������������������������������������������������������������������ four actual tennis majors — the US Open, Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. There was only one thing Larry Ellison couldn’t improve — the weather. Typical temps during the tournament are in the low to mid-80s; however, this time the mercury hit the mid to �������������������������������������������������������������� we were there with no cloud cover. Most were sitting in the stands with towels covering them (including me) because we would have burnt to a crisp. The exception was Dina, Fabio Fognini Tommy Haas, Nick Bolletieri & Larry Ellison
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