05/22/22 03:41:00
Printable Page
05/22 15:39 CDT COVID seems thing of the past at full-capacity French Open
COVID seems thing of the past at full-capacity French Open
By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer
PARIS (AP) --- They sipped from glasses of Champagne or ros while seated on
the sand-colored cushions of wicker couches on a "terrasse" overlooking some
smaller courts at Roland Garros. They crowded walkways and stood in lines
dozens deep for waffles painted with Nutella or baguettes layered with ham,
cheese and butter --- and, sometimes, they gave up on those waits that could
take 15 minutes or more.
In the stands, they wore their white hats and cried "Allez!" and punctuated
points with rhythmic clapping. They took etiquette-breaching strolls through
the stadium aisles during play. Most of all, and most important of all, they
were there.
The crowds at the French Open were back to their no-mask, no-distancing,
full-capacity, pre-pandemic levels Sunday for the start of this year's edition,
as much a part of the fabric of the event as the red clay that defines the
Grand Slam tournament.
"A really festive atmosphere," observed Alice Dufour, a 21-year-old who was
part of a group trip from her Miramont tennis club near Bordeaux. "It's a huge
party."
Because of COVID-19 restrictions in a country that went through three severe
lockdowns, attendance at the French Open was capped at 1,000 spectators daily
in 2020, creating a total two-week count of 15,000, instead of the more than
470,000 that came through the turnstiles in 2019. A year ago, the maximum was
5,388 for each of the first 10 days, before being eased somewhat to allow 8,500
in when the men's final was held.
Sunday's attendance was 32,453.
Clearly, they're thrilled to watch tennis and partake in the sport of
seeing-and-being-seen, of a piece with a society-wide sense of joy and relief
at the notion that perhaps some semblance of normalcy has returned --- even if
the coronavirus is still responsible for illness and death around the world as
variants spread.
The players, without a doubt, are pleased to see so many faces around again,
too.
"I have always appreciated the fans, but this time they are part of it even
more. ... I have realized, ever since everything kind of is getting back to
normal, just, ?Wow, this makes a huge difference,'" said Grigor Dimitrov, a
three-time Grand Slam semifinalist from Bulgaria who is seeded 18th in Paris.
"That's partly why we enjoy the sport itself. Without the fans, we definitely
won't be the same."
As his 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory over American Marcos Giron unfolded at 1,351-seat
Court No. 7, the place was standing-room only --- and there was a lot more
standing going on in the queues outside entrances for folks hoping to sneak in
during the third set, no matter how lopsided it was.
One Dimitrov fan draped a white-green-and-red Bulgarian flag over a glass
railing along a balcony of the nearby main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier,
while catching a glimpse from there.
Shouts rose from an adjacent arena, where a pair of unseeded, unheralded
players met. Later, in Chatrier, when a Frenchwoman won a game in a match she
would lose to a Greek opponent, the locals delighted in the development,
chanting their player's first name repeatedly.
"It's amazing to have the fans back, to have the people back," said Katerina
Siniakova, a Czech player who won the women's doubles title last year and won a
first-round singles match Sunday.
John Isner, the 23rd-seeded American, recalled his third-round loss to eventual
runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in Chatrier in 2021, when a COVID-19 curfew meant
the stands had to be emptied at about midnight.
"It was surreal out there, playing on center court at night, with literally no
one watching except his team and my team. That kind of stunk," Isner said after
his victory Sunday.
"Happy to have the fans back. I think they showed up very well today --- I
mean, not just on my court. I could hear roars going around the grounds," he
said. "Fans are very passionate here, and the players appreciate that."
One fan who certainly appreciated the chance to be in attendance Sunday was
Ryan Cardiff, a 24-year-old American who said he was supposed to take a
vacation in France in May 2020 to mark his graduation from the University of
California, Berkeley, where he played tennis.
That celebratory trip needed to wait until now. But eventually, it happened,
and Cardiff was in line Sunday to enter Court No. 8 with his mother, Sheryl
Kline.
"It's super cool. A lot of energy," Cardiff said. "The fans are really into it."
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
|
