Game, set and… masks.
This is the menu for this so bizarre Roland-Garros 2020, which begins this Sunday, four months after the date initially planned.
Until the first strike of the racket, the Covid-19 upset the organization of the tournament but also the plans of the France Televisions teams which broadcast the competition.
The public group had to review its copy at the last moment, hoping that the event will still appeal to as many viewers as the Tour de France which has just ended.
Consultants tested negative
"The conditions will be special, but the good news is that Roland-Garros will take place and that our team is on the bridge", rejoices Laurent-Eric Le Lay, the sports boss of France Télévisions.
At the end of the week, all the journalists and consultants tested negative for Covid-19.
None will be missed.
Laurent Luyat will find the new terrace, inaugurated last year, located below the press gallery.
At his side, Mary Pierce, Amélie Mauresmo, Justine Henin and their 11 Grand Slam titles between them, but also Sébastien Grosjean and Michaël Llodra will be able to analyze all the vagaries of this extraordinary edition in more than one way.
Nelson Monfort, for his part, will see his role drastically change.
His interview studio behind the scenes at the central will be closed.
But he hopes to be able to question the champions anyway.
“The players will be in a very strict health bubble, it will be very difficult to approach them.
But on the Tour, we finally managed to welcome all the riders… If a pole is needed, we will take a pole ”assures the commentator, reassured by the good performance of the US Open.
The sound of silence
This is the big black point of this edition.
Already reduced to 5,000 spectators, the gauge of the French Open was lowered Wednesday to 1,000 visitors per day, after the classification in "enhanced alert zone" of the entire Ile-de-France.
The aisles of the Paris tournament, where more than 35,000 tennis fans walked every day last year, will be completely sparse.
The impression of emptiness will be even more glaring on the Court Philippe-Chatrier, capable of accommodating usually more than 15,000 spectators, as well as on the Suzanne-Lenglen or the Court Simonne-Mathieu where the 1,000 lucky winners will be able to distribute themselves to their own way.
“Sport without an audience cannot last…” laments Nelson Monfort, who fears the total lack of atmosphere during matches.
"If in addition it rains as announced for this Sunday, and it's cold, the atmosphere will be freezing," fears another journalist from the group.
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So that the viewers do not realize the reverberations, Fred Godard, who ensures the capture of the tournament for all the chains of the world, found a trick.
With his team, he tested Friday adding a "sound of silence" to matches.
“When the players play, the audience is silent.
But that doesn't mean that there is no noise.
There is always an ambient sound, which mixes breathing, coughing, rubbing… ”, explains Laurent-Eric Le Lay.
“We found this 'sound of silence' from last year and we will add it live to the images captured on the courts,” he adds.
A process, already tested a few weeks ago at the US Open, which will also reduce the loud noise of the rain which backfires loudly on the new retractable roof.
France Télévisions will study from the first exchanges on Sunday the usefulness of reinforcing the applause and encouragement of the spectators present with sounds from previous editions.
"But let it be clear: we will not add
" Go Rafa "
.
We do not want to create anything fake, "warns the sports boss of the public group.
Prime-time matches
“Thanks to the new lighting, there will never be these very frustrating“ night interruptions ”, says Laurent-Eric Le Lay.
The group plans to broadcast on France 3 or France 4 all matches beyond 8 p.m.
Until the end of the night if necessary.
“We will have to adapt to the programming day by day”.
One thing is certain, France 2 will be in tennis mode from the start of the afternoon until the 20 Hours newspaper.
Unlike in previous years, “Don't forget the lyrics”, Nagui's game, will have to give way.
The retractable roof of the center court will allow the main posters to take place even in heavy downpours.
But this protection only covers a short.
In the event of the first rainy week, the calendar will take water.
And the tournament can turn into chaos.
There remains the possibility of playing night matches.
A novelty which will officially begin in 2021. But it is then Amazon which will exclusively offer the rights to “night sessions” next year.
France Télévisions will she serve this year as a dress rehearsal for the American group?
Big advertising revenue?
What if the good news came from the hearings?
Deprived of a stadium, will tennis fans rush in front of their television sets?
This is the bet of the public group still in its clouds after being doped by the Tour de France.
"The very good Tour scores give us confidence" confirms Laurent Eric Le Lay.
“I'm still worried.
Roland-Garros is less powerful than the Tour, especially in the first week if the French are bad.
Putting everything on France 2 is great for tennis but also more risky.
If we have less audience than Nagui, we will be singled out, ”blows a small hand used to the tournament.
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France Télévisions advertising agency is rubbing its hands.
The Tour in September was a very good operation.
Advertising revenues increased by 36% in gross value.
The group plays down the good deal.
"The overall net turnover, also including sponsors and digital revenues increased by 5% compared to the previous edition", ensures the management.