Between the continuing health crisis and the terrible weather forecast, this Roland Garros of the Covid era was already shaping up to be sad.
The reduction of the gauge to 1000 spectators has darkened the picture a little more.
“To be honest, I am sad, loose Gaël Monfils, world number 9, the leader of the Blues.
The stadium is empty, the weather is not good.
This is not the tournament I dream of with the crazy atmosphere, the supporters, the big magic… ”
For the first time in the history of the tournament, the players will not have been the only ones watching the draw.
The organizers were indeed forced to rely on Lady Luck, this Friday morning, to urgently appoint the 750 lucky guys from the general public (with 200 places for partners and 50 for elected officials) who will come every day. modestly furnish the stands.
“Nobody likes to play in these conditions, sighs Rafael Nadal, looking for a 13th coronation.
We can thank the people of Roland-Garros for doing their best to make the tournament a reality anyway.
It is not easy.
They are losing money.
This is what is beautiful about our circuit.
They managed to organize it.
It's a time when we can stick together and try to get the circuit back on track.
"
Those who have failed in the tennis lottery will console themselves with a refund and the promise of preferential access to reservations for 2021. All these little people began to be notified by e-mail this Friday afternoon.
"These are tens of millions of euros gone up in smoke"
“Taken by the time, we had to adapt again, breathes Stéphane Morel, deputy general manager, who had already had to manage two ticketing changes (from 20,000 daily visitors to 11,500 in three zones then to 5,000).
These are tens of millions of euros gone up in smoke.
We don't have time to do a sit-in with distancing and seat assignments.
On the central, the
winners
will all be placed at the bottom and the reception staff will ensure the distance between people.
For partners, all hospitality has been removed.
"
The FFT still does not digest the announcement launched, according to it, a little cookie-cutter by the Prime Minister Thursday evening.
“Since the start of the crisis, we only had to praise the work we had done with the State services, tackle the president, Bernard Giudicelli.
We thought 5,000 was already a minimum gauge, government officials decided otherwise.
With an area of 120 m2 per person, we are 30 times more than the authorized standard… ”
READ ALSO>
How France Televisions will fill the silence of Roland-Garros
Despite the starving nature of the audience (15,000 fans over the fortnight instead of 520,000 last year), the closed door was never considered.
Above all for a question of image (s).
"It is better to have 1,000 people rather than zero," says Morel.
For the millions of viewers who will see the tournament across 222 countries, having an audience, even a very small portion, around the players is not the same sight as going fully closed.
We could see it between the final of the US Open and that of Rome.
There is a real difference in terms of rendering.
This is part of our decision to make every effort whatever the financial consequences.
»A thin ray of sunshine…
