I hosted the Laver Cup gala

...and here's how it went

I‘m normally not one to freak out or get nervous before entering a stage. Many talented players fall by the wayside of things because they hate playing on centre court. Too many people or too big a court and they falter. Practice champions we‘d call them. Despite having the word champion in the phrase, it is not a compliment.

I had many problems with my game but playing on a big court was not one of them. I got 99 problems but centre court ain‘t one.

I carried this skill over with me to my next life. I give keynote speeches and host TV shows and never blink an eye. Having the butterflies? More like having A butterfly, am I right, and a very tired one at that.

Now, that all came crashing down when they asked me to host the Laver Cup gala. Not at first. At first I did what I always do. I said yes before thinking about what I said yes to and then I went in, underprepared and overconfident. A classic tale of how Andrea runs her life.

And everything was going nicely until it stopped going nicely.

Problem number one occurred on the day of the gala. A brand from London was kind enough to send me a few dresses to have options for a black tie dress code. I have plenty of clothes - gala clothes I have not. At 4pm on the day of the event, rehearsal was at 5, there were no dresses to have options, there wasn’t even a dress (single). A polite (yet nervous) phone call brought to light that the clothes had gotten stuck at customs. Damn you, Brexit!

So, it was 5pm and I had an opening line and a joke about Bastian Schweinsteiger, world cup champion for Germany in soccer, but nothing to wear. It‘s not stressful if you don’t make it stressful, right?

I may go into things underprepared but I will never - and I can‘t stress this enough - NEVER go into things underdressed. That‘s just not who I am. In the meantime, my photographer friend Nada, one of the greatest women I know, frantically started calling fashion friends of hers in Berlin. One of her designer friends came through and send a few options to the event location by way of courier. Unfortunately not Jim Courier but just a regular courier. I will spare you the details of having 10 minutes to fit into a sample size dress but all is well that ends well. If you think I am spinning a tale, here is a photo of me in a pantsuit on the black carpet before the dresses arrived:

angie is skeptical of my pantsuit

And here is me in a Malaika Raiss dress on stage mere moments later:

“that dress was the right choice for tonight, great style!”

The reason I tell you a somewhat boring anecdote of how things went wrong once during an important event (which only ever happens every single time) is to underline how occupied my mind was with other things before ascending to stage. But right before the moment came, right before the Voice of God (that’s what they call a voice from behind the scenes) called my name and right before I had to host a gala which I had never done before, it hit me. Not only was I doing something I had never done before, I would also do it in front of Rod Laver, Roger Federer, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah. In front of Björn Borg and John McEnroe. In front of Ana Ivanovic and Angelique Kerber. LOL. Just a big fat L. O. L.

As I was walking to centre stage not centre court, trying not to faceplant myself into the history books of the Laver Cup, I realised if I messed this up, I would never hear the end of it. I would get polite shoulder taps and awkward nodding and we would all have to pretend like I did an okay job and people would say things like nobody is great when doing something for the first time or good for you for trying or you did that with a sigh.

I tried to breathe deeply and focus on remembering that I got 99 problems but centre court ain’t one. And then I slightly adjusted the second half of that sentence, like somebody would adjust their ball toss for a kick serve, I have 99 problems but centre stage ain’t one. It worked. My first attempt at a joke was:

It’s so great to share this beautiful room with so many legends, Rod, Roger, Andre, Yannick, Boris, etc. and for some reason they let you and me in, too, Tommy Haas. Somebody needs to check security at the door.

People laughed. Relieved they wouldn’t have to tap my shoulder politely, desperately trying to find something affirming to say without lying too much, oh so relieved. I’m glad I did it. But I’m also glad it’s over. Overconfident and underprepared. It works like clockwork.

two (almost) legends

Things that make me happy:

Frances Tiafoe. Frances Tiafoe and his good mood and positive energy. He‘s just a joy to be around and has an immeasurable value for Team World. As he said: I‘m the glue guy. Or maybe it went „I‘m the glue, guy“ and he just called me guy. Either way, I love him for tennis and if the tennis Gods have mercy on us poor souls, they have something special in store for him.

MVP MVP MVP

Things that make me unhappy:

I pride myself with being reliable and on time. I always say it’s the most German thing about me even though most Germans I know are neither reliable nor punctual. It could also have something to do with who I know. Anyways, what I’m trying to say is, I normally send this newsletter out on Fridays 6am L.A. time, 9am New York time and 3pm German time. I did not manage to do that today and I apologise. Better luck next time!

here’s another photo, with hopes that this week’s timing will be forgotten

For good measure, I edited out all the excuses I originally gave on why I was late today. There were many reasonable ones but if I’m really honest to myself I just time managed badly this week. How are your time management skills? Hopefully much better than mine. See you all next week, definitely (maybe) on time.

Yours truly, Andrea