'STEP ONE' CHAPTER 8

My first full day in Paris was to be one of both taking in some famous sites as well as getting myself set up for the tournament circuit. Before you hit a tennis ball on the European Money Tournament Circuit a ranking is required, you need to be supplied with a series of numbers not unlike that of someone who is having their mug shot taken at a police station.
A trip to Roland Garros, home of the French Open was a trip I will never forget as both of my Swedish heroes had won the championship on more than one occasion, in fact nine times between them. This was the home of French Tennis, a place to be respected and a place to gain a licence to play in a foreign country.
I took a short bus trip from Paris that day and entered the grounds in total awe of the magnitude of the place. It was larger than life. I stood at the top of the stairs overlooking  'Court Philippe Chatrier' otherwise known as Centre Court and dared to dream about hitting a tennis ball there one day. I imagined Borg and Wilander hitting their famous double handed backhands over the net in seemingly endless rallies. Roland Garros was everything I had dreamed it to be yet strangely intimidating all the same, it was like no other tennis stadium I had ever seen.
I remembered some valuable information I learned back in 1987 when I was training at the Coops Tennis facility in Brisbane. There were a number of guys who had played the same tournament circuit in Europe and they came back with invaluable information.
The most informative I suppose was the way in which a player could basically help themselves from the outset with a request of a 'reasonable' ranking. 
The information that I gained back then was invaluable as I was told, 'look after yourself' because it was not as though you would be given a hitting test against a qualified evaluator before you received your playing papers. It basically meant that you could say you were of a high standard or an average one, your choice, after all they did not know you.
"Gday mate, I'm chasing a ranking to play the European Money Tournament circuit please".
Chasing ? What is this 'chasing' Monsieur '?
"Sorry I am wishing to gain a ranking for the tournament circuit please" .
'Ah wee Monsieur, now I understand. What is your standard" ?
"Well I am from Australia and I have played and beaten Brett Patten " ( I didn't tell him it was in practice )
'Wee Monsieur Mr Patten is 'Classement' -4/6, a very good player obviously. If you can beat Mr Patten then we will put you in classement 0/00. This classement is for you to prove with results you can get to the minus category of players by winning consistently".
I thought that was a fair call, they weren't going to give me a minus category as that would put me in with the elite players and I knew that category was not mine.
" Here are your papers, good luck with your tennis here in France''.
" Thanks mate".
So off I went, with a ranking that I hoped I could live up to and a dream of performing well.
When you first receive your papers it is a feeling of euphoria as you think that you are on your way to stardom, that things would all fall into place with a minimum of fuss. After all as a classement 0.00 ranked player you were to be 'respected' by your opponents. 
Yeah sure Thommo, wishful thinking. It's like the old adage, 'you have to earn respect'.