Throughout the competition, participants in the French Open tennis tournament must stay in one of two hotels reserved by the organizers: the Pullman Tour Eiffel or the Novotel Paris centre tour Eiffel.
For the 2021 edition of the French Open tennis tournament, which began on Monday, May 24, players are required to stay in one of the two partner hotels of the competition, the Pullman Tour Eiffel and the Novotel Paris centre tour Eiffel, until the end of the tournament on June 13.
Indeed, the participants of the Paris Grand Slam will have to stay in two hotels in the capital in order to minimize the risks of infection with Covid-19. This decision of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) follows the controversy that took place during the US Open when the player Benoît Paire was excluded because of a positive PCR test.
If some of the French players live in Paris or in the Paris region, they will not be allowed to sleep at home, and their companions (two people for singles players, one person for doubles players) either. Players will only be allowed to practice on the courts on match days.
The world-famous player Serena Williams, who owns an apartment in Paris, also did not get a pass, despite her health problems. “I will make the best decision for my health. I’ll have to talk with the organizers to find out how it works with the public and how we’ll be protected,” she said at the US Open.
However, these hotels where players will be confined are not reserved for the tournament, and other guests are allowed to stay at the hotel. “Our goal was not to make a bubble because the bubble is impossible,” said Bernard Montalvan, head of health protocol of Roland Garros, interviewed by AFP.
This decision creates disagreements among the players, some wishing that the entrance is forbidden to the public, as the British Dan Evans. “It makes me a little nervous to see the public in the hotel (…) If we are forbidden to go out, then we should not see the public, that’s my opinion,” he said at a press conference.
The American player John Isner said he felt “very safe“. At the Pullman Hotel, reserved for the 60 highest-ranked players, between 120 and 240 rooms out of the 430 rooms will be dedicated to the participants and their companions, who will only be allowed to leave the hotel for one hour per day.
The rest of the singles and doubles players will stay at the second hotel, close to the first, the Novotel tour Eiffel. The choice of hotels was mainly motivated by their proximity to the Porte d’Auteuil stadium, as well as by their large capacity.
Hotel staff, drivers, and security guards undergo regular PCR tests and have signed a confidentiality clause. Spaces have also been set aside so that players do not cross paths with other hotel guests.
“The number of credentials that can access the player areas has been drastically limited. The player is picked up at the hotel, transported to the stadium, and welcomed in a player’s area, then circulates in the stadium avoiding any form of contact with the public. Otherwise, he stays at the hotel. Everyone must take responsibility and weigh the risk,” said the FFT.
Read also > ROLAND-GARROS: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2021 EDITION
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