Palermo (Italy) (AFP)

"Tennis lover, welcome", enthuses the speaker of the Sicilian tournament: with masks even on the court and a bottle of gel hanging from the net, professional tennis has officially experienced its very first exchanges after a five-month hiatus at the WTA tournament from Palermo on Monday.

If it is part of the most modest category of tournaments on the main circuit, it is the Palermo tournament, nestled behind a hedge of fuschia bougainvillea and rocked by the song of the cicadas, which ended nearly 150 days of forced weaning, the fault of the coronavirus pandemic. Faced with the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic across the world, no bullet had resounded on professional circuits since March 8, exhibitions of all kinds aside.

Scorching heat requires, the first round was not launched until 4:00 p.m.

And contrary to what we had seen during the qualifying weekend, no masks on the faces of the first two players to set foot on the Sicilian clay, the Croatian Donna Vekic and the Dutch Arantxa Rus.

But an obvious physical distancing, each at the level of the service square line, when listening to the instructions of the chair umpire, masked him, like the coaches in the front row of the stands --- disinfected between each match- -.

- With a fillet, hydroalcoholic gel -

In the next match, we show ourselves to be stricter: for having unmasked too soon - only after having won her bench, however - the Italian Sara Errani is kindly sent back to look for the precious accessory in her bag by the referee of the meet.

Around the court now, only three ball collectors and as many line judges, spread out on one side of the court, the others in front.

On a post of the net, a new guest has made a place for him, a bottle of hydroalcoholic gel. Like everywhere in the aisles.

It is now up to each player to take care of their towel. If some bow to it conscientiously, it is not easy to stick to the small differentiated coat racks hanging at each corner of the court, so close together.

After a little more than an hour of play, it is Vekic who offers himself the victory but no more handshakes between the players to greet each other. Instead, two racquets that touch each other above the net. And it's already time to put the mask back on.

In the aisles and in the stands, where a maximum of 350 spectators for a capacity of 1,500 are admitted each day after taking their temperature at the entrance, masks were scarce at the start of the day. They were caught sliding on their chins, or even falling completely. If we did not hear a call to order from the referee as in qualifying, we were much more disciplined and wisely covered at the end of the afternoon.

- "Unreal" -

First victorious player at the time of cohabitation with the Covid-19, Vekic was delighted "not to have forgotten how we played tennis and how we won". Words spoken during a videoconference, and captured by interposed computer screens: in the age of the coronavirus, the traditional post-match press conferences are over.

"It's weird, sometimes it's funny with all these different protocols, the masks, the visors in the cars ... Of course it's necessary but it's so different that sometimes it just looks unreal ", was still surprised the Croatian Petra Martic, seeded N.1 and 15th player in the world, before the start of the tournament.

"It's been so long since we haven't played, so long without competition, without the adrenaline that we all love. It's a privilege to be back on the courts," she continued. .

It remains to be seen whether Palermo will mark a solid recovery in world tennis, as questions persist around the first major deadline in the post-coronavirus calendar, the US Open, at this stage maintained on its initial dates, from August 31, but behind closed doors and deprived of his qualifications. Or if the breathing will only be of short duration.

© 2020 AFP