Berlin (AFP)

The German Kevin Krawietz, almost a year after his double title at Roland Garros, today fills the shelves of a supermarket in Munich, his city, failing to exercise his profession as a professional tennis player, his sport being stopped at least until September because of the new coronavirus pandemic.

"For the past few weeks, I have been working in a discount supermarket for a salary of 450 euros," says Krawietz, winner at Roland Garros last spring, associated with Andreas Mies, at Der Spiegel magazine.

"I sort the shelves, make sure the sausages and cheese are well stocked and I sort the empty boxes," he describes. "Last week, I went to security at the entrance and I cleaned carts with disinfectant", continues the man who continues, thanks to special exemptions, to go to train indoors three to four times per week.

The champion "thanks the coronavirus" for offering him the opportunity to do "normal work". "My colleagues are sometimes in the store at 5.30 am to fill the shelves," points out the world No. 13 in duplicate.

This immersion in the world of work opened his eyes to the chance that he considers to have a career as a professional player, and to have made his passion his profession.

Even if the 28-year-old player recalls that before this very good 2019 vintage, also marked by a double semifinal at the US Open, that "some years, I ended up in the red". "Once I won a tournament in Italy and just over a thousand euros in a week," he recalls. "But on that, you have to deduct taxes, travel expenses, the coach, and you don't have much left."

Krawietz is in favor of the idea of ​​a support fund recently launched by the world No.1 Novak Djokovic in order to financially support poorly ranked players.

"It will certainly allow a number of them to survive," he said. "But regardless of the coronavirus, it would be nice if we could allow players ranked above the 100th place in the world to live better."

© 2020 AFP