Roland-Garros returns to a semblance of normality. The tournament which runs from Sunday to June 13 regains color after a last atypical edition. In 2020, the first wave of Covid-19 prompted the French Tennis Federation (FFT) to postpone the Grand Slam from late spring to early fall. The historic decision left a harsh memory. Many players, such as the master of the place, Rafael Nadal, had criticized the playing conditions. “The problem is the weather. It’s too cold to play, to be honest. I think it’s a bit dangerous for the body to play in such conditions. ” An icy atmosphere reinforced by grandstands only filled with some 1,000 authorized daily spectators. Too little to warm the atmosphere.
Initially scheduled from May 23 to June 6 this year, the tournament has certainly been postponed by a week, but is returning to its usual benchmarks. This report allows“Welcome the largest number of spectators to have the most qualitative show possible and guarantee everyone’s health security”, said May 12 Gilles Moretton, president of the FFT. Particularity of the fortnight, the Grand Slam will take place straddling two phases of national deconfinement, including a reduction in the curfew regime in the middle of the tournament.
Six distinct zones
Eight months after the 2020 edition, the tournament will not regain all its past fervor, but will still be able to benefit from a reasonable attendance for this 2021 vintage. The FFT indicates that 118,611 tickets have been purchased for the fortnight. A figure far from the standards of the event before the pandemic – 500,000 tickets were sold in 2019, only 15,000 in 2020 – but which allows the tournament to breathe. To ensure compliance with health rules, the organization of the tournament divided the twelve hectares on which the site extends into six establishments open to the public (ERP-PA): the court Philippe-Chatrier, the court Suzanne- Lenglen, the Simonne-Mathieu court, the courts 2 to 5, the courts 6 to 9 and the courts 10 to 14. In each of these zones, the public will be admitted up to 35% of the maximum capacity, limited to 1000 people with curfew at 9 p.m. until June 8. The next day, the gauge will rise to 65% within the limit of 5,000 people with the postponement of the curfew to 11 pm.
The gauge of spectators on the whole site will reach up to a maximum of 13,146 spectators on June 9 and 10, while in normal times, Roland-Garros can accommodate up to 38,436 spectators per day, including 14,962 on le Chatrier, 9,829 on the Lenglen and 5,289 on the Mathieu. The number of ERP will then decrease during the last days of the tournament, to 4 then 2, given the decrease in the number of matches to be played at this stage of the competition. This organization should make it possible to limit the mixing of the public, but a “free circulation” between the different sectors will however be assured, said Gilles Moretton.
Health pass
Within the ERP, seating in a grandstand will also be subject to a precise protocol: groups of spectators, made up of a maximum of four people, must respect a gap of one seat. Wearing a mask will also be compulsory on the whole site for all people over 11 years old. An audience that will have to leave the stadium at 8 p.m. until June 8, underlined Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the general manager of the FFT, without knowing yet the precise modalities of this operation, which could destabilize the players in full meet.
The health pass being announced by the government from June 9, Roland-Garros will be the first sporting event to experience it for its visitors. The tournament will deploy this device for the last five days of competition in order to support the increase in the number of spectators. To access the stadium, ticket holders must present proof of the result of a negative or antigenic PCR test of less than forty-eight hours, a certificate of total vaccination or the result of a positive test of more than two weeks. and less than six months old, witnessing an older infection.
9 out of 10 “night sessions” behind closed doors
They are the great novelty of this 2021 edition: the “night sessions”, these nocturnal matches, provide for one meeting per evening from May 31 to June 9 on central court, from 9 pm. A novelty which makes it possible to extend the hours of the tournament and to isolate one poster per day on a dedicated time slot. In total, ten matches are scheduled on the Philippe-Chatrier court in this system. The curfew being maintained at 9 p.m. until June 8, nine of them will be held behind closed doors.
The exception will be the last men’s quarter-final, on June 9, when the curfew will pass to 11 p.m. Le Chatrier will then be able to accommodate 5,000 spectators, with a meeting schedule advanced to 8 p.m. The public will nevertheless have to leave the stadium before the end of the match if its duration exceeds three hours. The peak of daily spectators for the fortnight is therefore expected for this day, with 13,146 admissions and 5,000 additional in the evening. Subsequently, the reduction in the number of matches will lead to a reduction in the quantity of courts used, mechanically lowering the total number of spectators.
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