It’s very simple. Norman gave an interview to DH, and the most important passage is not the one everyone will remember. Yes, he beat Nadal in the doubles final in Chennai in 2007, playing with Xavier Malisse. Yes, he reached the last 16 at Wimbledon, a doubles final at Roland-Garros, the Masters in doubles. Very good. But the heart of the matter is the guesthouse.
Wimbledon, 1995. He stayed with other qualifying players in a guesthouse with breakfast. He is asked whether he paid 40. He corrects it: 25 or 30 euros a night. He insists on the precision. I respect that, right. It’s exactly what I’ve been saying for years, nobody listens to me: in tennis, everything is decided at breakfast. In ninety per cent of cases, and I’m being kind.
Me, in Kitzbühel, in ’92, I paid less. A lot less. I slept at a local’s house, a lady who made eggs. Or it was at the tournament physio’s. The context was different, but the price I remember: they didn’t charge me, or hardly. Careful, I’m not saying Norman was badly advised. I’m clarifying that at 25 euros, there was better.
And here’s where it gets interesting: the same year, according to the interview question, he gets in as a lucky loser and beats Pat Cash on a retirement. He confirms it was his first match at Wimbledon. First match, first round won, lodging at 25 or 30 euros a night. I said it back in January: the cheap guesthouse is a tactical advantage. You sleep badly, you want to get out, you run faster.
He also held the ATP record for several years as the oldest player to enter the top 100, a little before his 32nd birthday. That doesn’t surprise me. A man who haggles over his night’s stay to within five euros is a man who knows how to wait.
Jean-Pol, in Kitzbühel, last year you told me you were staying at the Grand Hôtel.
The Grand Hôtel, the first week. Then the lady with the eggs. All right?
Today, Norman runs the European Open, and he says that in a few days he will organise David Goffin’s farewell. His own last match was a doubles at Rosmalen with Goffin, at 42. Nobody called me to talk about it.
It’s true, we checked: DH Les Sports+.
