Tennis at Emirates Palace: Peter Wessels, meet Hugh Grant

Peter Wessels, academy director, emirates palace tennis academy at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. Christopher Pike / The National

But never a movie star on the level of British actor Hugh Grant, who is staying at the hotel to narrate an Abu Dhabi Festival musical performance of The Little Prince this weekend.

“I was a bit surprised when he came he came on the court,” said Wessels over the phone on Thursday, hours after his second lesson with Grant. “He said ‘it’s so, so, so nice to meet you, because I expected a normal tennis coach, but I Googled you and it’s an honour to play with you’. And I said ‘I’m honoured to play with you’.”

"I was suprised because you never know, especially with hotel guests you never know what to expect, whether they can even hit a ball over the net," he said. "I really loved it, he was really into it, a really fanatic tennis player reader eager to learn and try things out."

The first 45 minute lesson went so well it went over by an hour; the second day the pair played for 90 minutes.