Florencia Labat vs. Elena Wagner
Flushing Meadow: US Open
Women's singles first round
August 29, 1995

Florencia didn't have to do anything spectacular in this one. Wagner errors led to most of the points. Flo was already up 4-1 when I got there and she didn't lose another game. Court 9 was a practice court the previous year and it's not a great place to watch a real match. Line calls from Court 11 could be heard loud and clear -- heck, you could have watched both matches at the same time (Meredith McGrath was playing Elena Makarova at the time). The crowd was pretty rude, with a few people chattering away during the entire match with no regard for the players. Anyway, with solid groundstrokes (none of her patented lobs on this day), Flo easily advanced -- 6-1, 6-0.

Since Florencia had said that she wanted to meet me (long story), I didn't want to disappoint her. As Flo was leaving the court, I called to her and she turned around. I introduced myself and she smiled broadly. We shook hands and exchanged a few brief pleasantries, then she left. Nothing major, but it went really well. It was the first time I'd ever met a player, by the way.

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