Football Short Stories

For The Tiger-Lilies - Robert Lewandowski

Hey guys! I promise I won't be long. Here's a few things you need to know before reading this:

-Tiger-Lilies are a type of flower (my personal favorites).

-Ana Ivanovic is a professional tennis players and Nikolai Vasiliev is a fictional character.

-Backhands, forehands, overheads and lobs are all types of shots in tennis

-To make it simple, a tennis match is usually made of 3 sets, each one composed of 6 points. When one of the two players reaches 6 points during a set, he wins it and we move on to the next set. Whoever wins at least 2 of the 3 sets wins the whole match.

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They will tell you lots of different stories about how I met Robert Lewandowski.

And by "they" I mean the media of course.

But whatever you will hear probably won't be true. And you know why?

Because aside from him and I, there are only two other people on this planet who know how we really met.

But first of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Denitsa Romanov. You may know me as the professional tennis player from Russia, currently ranked number 9 worldwide.

Three months ago, I went to Berlin for the Gerry Weber Tournament that was held in Germany this year. And as you may have guessed, that's where I came across Robert Lewandowski.

The media have spread countless different stories about how we supposedly met, each one more colorful than the previous; but as I said before, none of them are true.

Do you want to hear the real story?

Well, it's very simple.

I met Robert Lewandowski thanks to his stalkerish tendencies, three bouquets of tiger-lilies and one little shit called Nikolai Vasiliev.

Let's rewind a few months back, shall we?

THREE MONTHS EARLIER

"...And be careful when your serve, you know Ana's got one hell of a forehand."

"Yes Niko," I smiled, rolling my eyes, as I rushed into the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel "You told me like a dozen times already."

I walked over to the reception desk, phone still pressed against my ear. I listened as Nikolai gave me some final recommendations for my match against Ana Ivanovic, which was going to be held this weekend.

The receptionist handed me the keys to my room and I made my way to the elevator. It wasn't a long way from Moscow to Berlin but I still felt exhausted and needed some much deserved rest.

A porter was walking behind me, pushing a trolley where my suitcases were piled up.

"Hey Niko, I'm gonna have to hang up," I said into my phone, stopping his chatter "I'm heading to my hotel room, I'm going to pass out if I don't take a nap."

"Alright, alright, but remember what I told you about Ana... and good luck, I'll be rooting for you!"

I smiled to myself. Nikolai Vasiliev was a dear friend of mine. He was also a professional tennis player, just like I was. Since I play for the women's division and he plays for the men's, we've never really been rivals and always gave each other tips before matches. He's always incredibly supportive, I'm really lucky to have a friend like him.