♫
Throwing her racquet bag onto the floor, Amanda let out a quiet sob and sat down on her hotel room bed. She covered her eyes with her hands and let her head sunk on her knees. That was it, she thought. She had seen it coming. Yes, she’d known it all along since she had lost that third round match in Roland Garros. But here she was facing the facts.
Her mobile buzzed and with a glance she saw that Elise had send her a message: Wanna talk?
No, she didn’t want to talk to Elise. Not now.
Only an hour ago it seemed she could hold up and might win the match, but Ivana Katina had braced herself and in the end she had broken Amanda to gain the lead in the second set, held for 5-3 and had broken Amanda again to win the match. She was a much younger and inexperienced player than the Australian but it seemed Amanda wasn’t able to awe the young players any longer.
No wonder, when she hit the ball like a recreational player.
“Crap,” she shouted. It really was.
Losing in the second round in Stanford meant that she was out of the Top 10 for the first time in one and a half years. She had kept a straight face during her press conference but she felt the doubts and the murmurs that had been uttered by her critics for the past month creeping in on her and finally clasping her heart like a cold wet towel. Maybe she wasn’t a Top 10 player at all. Maybe she had only been lucky last year. This year she had made it to one final in Rome but then again was losing in early rounds and her performances in Paris and Wimbledon already taken her ranking down a peg. But having been a quarter finalist in Stanford last year, her early exit now had given her Top 10 ranking the rest.
After calming down she slowly got up and walked to the bathroom to wipe her nose. When she flushed the paper down the toilet she heard a knock on the door.
Amanda sighed. She should have answered Elise’s message. Now she had to face her new girlfriend and she didn’t want to in a moment of defeat. Unlike Amanda, Elise was striving in Stanford, having beaten both of her opponents so far in straight sets and couldn’t be happier. Not exactly what Amanda needed right now.
Again, there was a knock. Amanda checked her eyes in the mirror but had to accept the fact that she looked puffy and dreadful. So be it, she thought. Why shouldn’t Elise see her beaten and knocked out? Wouldn’t be the last time probably, so the German better got used to it that her new Australian girlfriend was a loser who couldn’t hit the ball into court. And if the new Wimbledon semi finalist superstar couldn’t take it, they should better end it right now.
Angrily, Amanda sniffed and walked over to open the door.
“Hello, babe,” Natsumi grinned through the door. “Heard you are now able to join me in binge drinking this little bottle.” She waved a huge bottle of sake in front of Amanda’s nose. Instead of her sullenness Amanda couldn’t help grinning. She let her Japanese friend in. Natsumi gave her a litte kiss on the cheek, settled down in a chair and opened her bag to produced a fine array of sushi rolls.
After gorging the food and half of the sake bottle, Amanda felt better.
“How are you and Elise?” Natsumi leaned back taking a sip from her glass.
“Ok, I guess,” Amanda answered. Feeling that her reply lacked the required newly-in-love enthusiasm she explained: “It’s all good. Really. I just don’t like the situation we are in. It’s weird to talk to Elise’s parents knowing that they have no idea what I do to their little daughter at night.”
“Details please,” Natsumi demanded but Amanda shook her head.
“Is she good?” The Japanese girl inquired with a grin and Amanda nodded. Yes, the sex was much better than she had anticipated, after learning that Elise was completely inexperienced.
“She’s very ambitious,” Amanda explained. “On the court and off the court.”
“Keep her,” Natsumi said. Even though she had winked at Amanda there was a serious tone in her voice. Natsumi took a look on her watch and decided that it was time to leave. Amanda smiled at the Japanese. There was probably no one on the tour who knew Amanda better than her former lover and now best friend.
“I’ll try,” Amanda said walking Natsumi to the door. The doubts were back and Amanda was wondering if Elise would keep her in the long run or if she got bored with Amanda when she finally would be able to overtake her. It was only a matter of time until Elise would make the Top 10.
love game all 