My Ironic Encounter with Juan Martin del Potro in Montreal

Aug. 12, 2009 was a bright, sunny Wednesday morning in Montreal. Since I worked at the Rogers Cup, I had access to the grounds and had specially requested Wednesday off so I could go check out all the players' practices. It was indeed a loaded schedule with the top 10 in action throughout the day. At 11 am, a friend and I headed over to Court Four, where the world No. 1, Roger Federer, was due to arrive at 11:30 am. Already jam-packed with about a few hundred people, there was hardly any room to move. As the time approached, the place was filled with people who eagerly waited to get a glimpse of the Swiss Maestro. With the sun soaring at 35 degrees Celsius, we watched him warm up and start hitting balls. To be honest, it was quite uneventful and was supposed to last two hours. So, slowly, we squeezed out of the crowd and came to a open spot. I looked up at Court Four on the opposite side to see a tall, lanky player clad in a pink Nike T-shirt and white shorts hitting some balls....