Chapter 48
There were tons of messages waiting for me when I glanced at my phone for the first time on the drive to the hotel.
After the short interview on the court, I had faced the international sports media, done a lap on the ergometer, gone to physio, and turned up freshly showered for the press conference.
It was the same procedure that we professional players have to follow at every tournament.
I scrolled through the names of the people who’d written to congratulate me, including Kay, Laurie, and Gabe, various German players, Milan, and a few members of the German Tennis Federation. At that very moment a message appeared. Holding my breath, I opened it.
Congratulations!
You’ve earned it.
My heart skipped a beat. I read the text a second and a third time, but the letters stayed where they were.
“Lou?” my dad’s voice called me back to the here and now.
I looked up reluctantly.
“Should we reserve a table at that nice Italian place in Chelsea? The one with the cannelloni you like so much.”
“Um…I think I’d rather just order room service.”
He frowned. “Don’t you want to celebrate your win a little?”
“Well, hopefully it won’t be the only one.”
“Even so, you were fantastic today,” my mother said.
Dad agreed. “That was some fantastic tennis indeed.”
I smiled before my eyes darted back to my phone. Vince wasn’t online anymore. I began to type anyway. A hey that I immediately erased. A thanks that I furnished with a smiling emoji—and erased.
“Bad news?” my mother asked.
“No, just…unexpected.”
I hadn’t heard anything from Vince since leaving Hawaii. I’d texted with Laurie a few times, but we’d managed to avoid the topic.
“Unexpected…good?”
I stared at my phone indecisively. “I don’t know.”
A part of me was overjoyed by his message, wanted to print it out and frame it.
Another part of me knew how risky it was.
Because it stood for the past. And I had to concentrate fully and completely on the future.
All of a sudden it was like my fingers took on a life of their own. They began to hurry across the keys.
I miss you
But I didn’t hit “send.” And yet, I didn’t delete it either. And when I simply dropped my phone into my lap and stared out the window, things became twice as hard.
* * *
Fairy-tale comeback continues
NEW YORK—Louisa Herzog-Riggs moves up to the third round of the US Open.
Facing off against England’s Danielle Smith, the 22-year-old didn’t just need three sets, but a whole lot of fighting spirit.
After an unsuccessful first set (1-6), she clearly won the second (6-2).
In the third, things got tight again before she was able to wrap things up 7-5.
“Of course I would have preferred ending things in just two sets, but she played excellently,” Herzog-Riggs, who is back on tour following a bad ankle injury, said.
Herzog-Riggs moves into the last 16—’Have fun and play great tennis’
NEW YORK—What a match! In the duel of generations, 22-year-old Louisa Herzog-Riggs won against 34-year-old Dane Agnes Brisson, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4.
Brisson, currently No. 9 in the world, had trouble with muscle cramps during the second set, but managed to fight her way back in the third.
In the end, however, she just couldn’t defeat a strong Herzog-Riggs.
In the Round of 16 the German will be facing off against Ana Bozovic.
The Serbian defeated Switzerland’s Lara Gisin in two sets.
Herzog-Riggs said that she will be going into her match with Bozovic relaxed. “I’m simply really happy to be here again. All I want to do is have fun and play great tennis.”
Begin audio message
Hey. This is probably just another message I won’t send, but, in case I’m wrong, then I hope that you’ve at least put your phone on mute.
It’s probably around…two a.m. your time, and I know how important your sleep is.
On top of it, I don’t want you to oversleep your Round of 16 match because of the dude-who-can’t-stop-thinking-about-you keeping you up all night.
Although your next match isn’t until the day after tomorrow.
Or, well, I think it is. Or, wait, no, scratch that. I know when it is. All too well.
Delete audio message