Almost everywhere in France, the clubs have been open to amateur players since Monday, with practice framed by strict rules, only individually (single) and on outdoor courts. The pros, for their part, have received the green light since Monday evening and can train on “indoor” courts. The French National Tennis Training Center (CNE), located in Paris, Porte Molitor, a few hundred meters from Roland-Garros, was therefore able to reopen on Tuesday morning.
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“We had a lot of discussions with the ANS (National Sports Agency, Editor's note), our contact for the high level, explains to Le Figaro the DTN of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), Pierre Cherret. As with leisure tennis, we worked with a college of scientific experts and Bernard Montalvan (assistant director in charge of medical care at the FFT) on a deconfinement protocol. ”
The resumption of training, in priority for the tricolor players of the top 100, has been fixed in a CNE which is slowly coming back to life, without its usual residents, however. Covid-19 patients had been taken care of at the end of March in one of the three buildings of the training center, which should, hopefully, be free of patients by the end of May. "Our hopes of the CNE (the usual boarders) will go to the regions to train in poles located in the green zone, in Normandy or in Poitiers, and will not resume training until Thursday," reveals Cherret.
Strict protocols are in place
Richard Gasquet, Kristina Mladenovic, Lucas Pouille and Pauline Parmentier are expected on Wednesday or Thursday at the Molitor gate, with the possibility of also using the Roland Garros outdoor courts. A smooth recovery. “Richard (Gasquet), Kristina (Mladenovic), for example, will start with training between 1:30 and 1:45 am whereas usually, it can be two training sessions per day from 2 to 3 hours. We will have to be careful of any trauma, ”continues Pierre Cherret.
Strict protocols are in place as for amateurs (marked balls, cleaning of the bench, not crossing one's partner during a change of side…), with a notable difference, the presence of coaches on the courts: “The coach has the obligation to wear a mask and protective glasses, stresses Cherret. Some have even invested in large plastic visors to keep physical distance as efficiently as possible. ”
" Some will have time for a land preparation that they could not do between the Davis Cup in late November and Australia in January"
Pierre CherretLast Tuesday, an hour and a half conference call was held with the players of the elite to discuss their feelings of confinement and the functioning of the recovery. They had a medical checkup last weekend to find out if they could, "near or far," be in contact with the virus. "Some players have had direct contact with patients but to my knowledge, none have had respiratory problems," said Dr. Bernard Montalvan. Players are tested, if they want to, which is generally the case. If they are doing well and as long as they respect the distancing measures, we will not need to test them every day. ”
The pros did the job on physical maintenance
During this anxiety-provoking period of confinement, the French number two, Benoît Paire, animated social networks, assuming his casualness with his Swiss friend Stan Wawrinka during virtual aperitifs, the “StanPairos”, but, Doctor Montalvan assures him, the pros did the job on the physical maintenance: “They did not remain inactive and, by weighing them, I can assure you that they did not gain much weight. One of our concerns was more about the psychological consequences of this confinement. Some were alone for six to eight weeks, but I found them calm and quite philosophical. ” The DTN adds: “With their staff and their physical trainer, they organized distance sessions of at least 1 hour 30 minutes a day and some were able to play (like Lucas Pouille, who had rented with Grégoire Barrère a house with 'A short)."
The deconfinement does not however lift all the anxieties for athletes deprived of concrete perspectives, with the specter of a white season. "Some will have time for a land preparation they could not do between the Davis Cup in late November and Australia in January", positive DTN, Pierre Cherret. They might even get a little clearer quickly. The international authorities should, according to our information, unveil around May 15 a calendar of recovery (hypothetical) of the circuit.
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