The 16th Episode : Actor-cum-pro tennis player
[November, 1982 Hong Kong]
I was at the entrance of the Hotel we stayed in the morning of the leaving day. It was a little early though we were to get together there. Many luggages were put by the entrance and a blonde haired guy was standing. Hmm? I’d seen his face somewhere before. Wow, he was Vincent Van Patten, an American actor-cum-pro tennis player, wasn’t he.
He played the leading role in the film titled “Yesterday” published in 1981. I rarely watch films and it is one of the few precious films I’ve watched in the cinema. He played in other many films but I’ve never seen. Sorry.
The highest ATP ranking in his career was 26 in singles and 24 in doubles. He was a champion in Seiko World Super Tennis held in Tokyo in 1981. That was just the period of the tournament of the year. He must’ve made entry. The tennis bags were included his luggages. However, he seemed to have lost early the year unfortunately.
How lucky I was to have met such a famous guy at my first abroad! I didn’t hesitate to come to him to speak. “I watched your film titled Yesterday.” “Where did you do?” “In Japan.” He seemed to be a little surprised. We had some talk and I was taken a photo with him. I guessed later the reason why he seemed to be a little surprised with my answer “in Japan”. Ah! He thought I was a Hong Kong person!?
