Roland Garros is not Roland Garros

At nine in the morning, there are no funnels in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.

Neither queues.

The drizzle slowly seeps over the coats and the treacherous moisture makes its way to the bones.

Chestnuts plummet from the grove and the residents of Boulogne-Billancourt, a beautiful residential area dotted with small villas to the southwest of the city, enjoy the peace that the spring version of

away from them for three weeks

.

Everything is different.

It is, but it is not.

Autumn strongly embraces the Parisian tournament, distorted by circumstances.

It no longer smells like waffle because the cars have disappeared.

Also hats.

And the people.

The beaten earth absorbs and becomes a quagmire.

The applause has flown.

“We are not going to fool ourselves.

It is sad to see a tournament in these conditions, without being able to move, with the coaches and the physios without being able to enter the locker room ... It is a sadder feeling than usual, but in the end the moment requires it because there are many people in the world who are having a very bad time and all we can do is give thanks for the effort that is being made so that we can be here ”,

answered the day before

when asked about the cold reality of this strange and coronavirus present.

In

Paris you play and compete, the tables advance.

But Roland Garros is definitely not Roland Garros today.

From the weather to the balls, everything has changed.

So much so that the previous day closes when the clock reaches dawn, for the first time in the history of the great Frenchman.

They played after midnight Clara Burel and Arantxa Rus despite the fact that the night session has not yet been established, an economic vein from which Australia or New York take advantage, and that Roland Garros will apply as soon as possible.

In Paris, the day never went beyond 9:30 or when natural light dictated, but the new spotlights installed in the Philippe Chatrier and eleven other tracks in the venue extend the program significantly.

"I am not going to say that it is another tournament, but of course it is very different," says

, who is staying at the Pullman Tour Eiffel hotel, which welcomes the 60 best men and women.

The rest of the tennis players, following the parameters of the bubble proposed by the organization, stay in another located less than a kilometer away.

“It is difficult and very boring.

We are 100 meters from the Eiffel Tower and other incredible places, and we cannot even go out for a walk… In any case, we understand that these are the necessary conditions right now.

From the US Open and Rome we already knew how this was going to be ”, adds Argentine Diego Schwartzman.

"Be like this next season?

A whole year locked up would be very hard.

In the end, what gives us life is traveling and seeing places, but obviously it is not in my power and what remains for me is to bow my head and respect the rules ”, adds Alejandro Davidovich from Malaga.

"Garbiñe does not take it badly, because in the end he has gotten used to it", transmits his environment, but Serena Williams, who in New York was able to rent a private home and these days can not enjoy his "second home", acquired a few years ago .

“This is all very weird.

I suppose it is an obligation ”, she says, annoyed.

Resigned, the superstitious Nadal cannot continue with his sacred routines in the French capital.

Goodbye to the warmth of your traditional hotel, on Rue Jean Goujon, and to dinners at Café de la Paix or L'Avenue.

At least, he has the consolation of being able to continue showering in the same shower (the last one on the right in the changing room) and using locker 159.

The Spaniard is accompanied by his coach, Carlos Moyà, and his physical trainer, Rafael Maymò.

Like the rest, you can only enter the complex on match day and must pass health checks every four days.

His agent, Carlos Costa, and his communication manager, Benito Pérez-Barbadillo, have also moved, but in no case can they have any contact with the player, since only three members per team are allowed in the bubble.

To exercise daily, the tennis players resort to a club located half a kilometer away, the Jean Bouin, and unlike other occasions, all the participants were picked up at the airport, not just the figures.

The Players Area has been separated into two zones, in line with the division in accommodation, and there is no contact whatsoever with journalists;

interaction in press conferences is telematic despite the physical distance being a few meters.

A window acts as a border.

The number of accreditations has been drastically reduced, from the usual 900 to 150, and while before it was a more than complicated mission to move from one side of the complex to the other during a day of matches through the crowds, now there is no obstacle because the Capacity has been reduced to 1,000 daily viewers (20,000 were intended at the beginning).

A figure that, according to what was seen in the stands, is not reached.

After nine editions, the tournament has decided to replace the balls (from the French Babolat to the North American Wilson), which are heavier and bounce even less with low temperatures.

"I wouldn't give them to a dog to chew on," protested Englishman Daniel Evans.

There is debate, because the weather conditions the game and the episode of Fernando Verdasco has also produced noise, who has been prevented from competing because he tested positive in the first test and the organization did not accept the negative tests that the Madrid native presented later.

He will file a lawsuit.

“I am following the same instructions as everyone.

We have to follow the rules and here in France they are what they are.

They are quite strict, but I suppose they must be like that, ”says

as the tournament continues to unfold in a gloomy context.

This is how this Roland Garros passes, which he wants, but which unfortunately is not.