COGOLIN

After my loss at Cagnes Sur Mer I headed back to St Maxime where Jean eventually arrived back home ready to play the tournament at Cogolin. I had not seen Jean play however he seemed fairly modest of his own ability so I was looking forward to seeing him in action in the over 50's.
Cogolin is a beautiful French town built on a sweeping hill overlooking the ocean and the tennis club of Cogolin is a hard court club which is surrounded by trees, a picturesque setting. Whilst I was planning to play each tournament on clay I was rather eager to play at Cogolin once I saw that it was a hard court tournament, my surface as a kid learning the game in Albany.
I witnessed Jean hitting some balls and he was your typically crafty 'elder statesman' of the game complete with a slice backhand and a confident volley. Jean could play the game and as I said, a rather modest fellow when it came to talking about his own ability.
I lost to a guy named Andre Gerard 6-4, 6-3 but at least I was competitive this time around. Looking back I am so happy to have played someone at tennis by the name of Andre. My fledgling 'career' would have had a huge void in it otherwise !

Jean came home that night after two wins and he had a rather funny way of pronouncing his wins.

 "Howd you go Jean" ?

'I wine'

"You wine" ??

'Wee, I wine'

"You mean you WIN" ?

'Wee I WIN'!

Glad we sorted that one. A great guy and he was obviously a good player for his 50 plus age group. I hope he won it but I lost contact with him so I am unsure of his eventual achievements. One day I will find Jean, I don't know how but I must thank him again for his help.

He was the one person who helped me more than anyone else when it came to tournament entries and hospitality. Jean was just one of many who I was blessed to have met through the sport of tennis. It was a sport that I was learning another side to, a generous side that could reward you in ways other than a pay cheque.