Why don't the stars go to the front at the Australian Open?

"We will not let pass". Vasek Pospisil was born a little too late to play the role of Gandalf in the cinema, but catches up as best he can by playing the big mouths of the ATP circuit. At the origin of a petition for a better redistribution of prize money in the Grand Slam before the US Open 2019, here he is again putting on his valiant knight costume to save the lungs of his peers, forced to play Tuesday the first round Australian Open qualifiers in appalling conditions. “All of this becomes absurd. It's time to create a players' union. ”

It's time for a players union. This is becoming absurd. @sventennis @waliedesq https://t.co/dyGJyMpD9l

We've known the song, we've been waiting for it for years, the CGT of the yellow ball. For lack of better we fall back on the Medef, in this case the players' council chaired by Novak Djokovic, "always very active on the issue of prize money", blows us an agent, a little less to step up on the issue player health. He continued:

"I'm going to be a little raw but you should know that for the organization of the Grand Slam as well as for the big names on the circuit, the players in the qualifications are nonexistent. "

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have certainly raised 150,000 euros in favor of fire victims in Australia by organizing an exhibition tournament, we have not heard more than Nole on the issue of the health of athletes. Pending the meeting of the players' council Friday, two days before the start of the main draw, the trio repeats their ranges in the big courts of Melbourne, real bunkers preserved from the apocalypse by the air conditioning and retractable roofs.

"Roger and Rafa are a bit selfish"

The "nonexistent" like Brayden Schnur (103rd at ATP) would have preferred that the kings of tennis drag a little less. “It has to come from the best guys, Roger and Rafa are a little selfish when they think about themselves and their careers. As they are near the end, they only think about their heritage and more about the sport itself. They don't try to do what's good for the sport. So they have to show more involvement. "Quoted by L'Equipe , Nicolas Mahut tends to qualify the Canadian's words. "They say that the top players did not mobilize, but when I got Rafa by messages, he was completely available: 'tell me, I'm interested, I'll try to go see ...' But he was coming to arrive and the day before everything was fine. It went very quickly. "

"Difficult to breathe", two French players tell the hell of Melbourne via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/xYHLKWSGuU

Aware that he was in danger of falling in love, Schnur returned to the "selfish" dimension of his remarks on Rafa and Rodgeur. “I would like to apologize to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. I have enormous respect for these two players. Their contribution to tennis is remarkable and I am grateful for everything they do for their sport. But the bottom remains the same: the little ones are left to their own devices and not many people are there to help them. As a result, "the players followed the organ like sheep and played their qualifying matches because if they do not go to the court, there is no prize money and that represents a shortfall for us [ 12,000 euros victory in the first round of qualifying], "regrets the French Mathias Bourgue, winner of his first qualifying match on Thursday.

"Why are you going to court? "

If the mega stars are very discreet, several big names of ATP and WTA have been heard on the networks. Elina Svitolina and Alizé Cornet alerted, Gilles Simon ironically and Lucas Pouille, although forfeited to the OA, wondered: "I keep reading that it is dangerous to play, to read messages from players / players say it's outrageous to play [under these conditions]. I can't judge I'm not there ... but my question is this. Why are you going on the court? "

So true! This is not reasonnable. Come on @AustralianOpen @CraigTiley are you really gonna let this happen ?? https://t.co/MzfLYZIcox

The answer lies as much in the shortfall of which Bourgue spoke as in the economic sanction which weighs in the event of unjustified package. The agent develops: “I can understand that players [lower ranked] are reluctant to forfeit because there are fines, the price of which is exponential. The more packages you have, the more expensive the fine. The season is long, the packages inevitably end up arriving, so they prefer to keep their meter at zero. "We all agreed that all this is absurd and that we had to boycott the qualifiers," says Bourgue, "but in the end there was no collective momentum and we couldn't hold back those who would not have agreed to boycott. "

The difficulty of awakening a collective conscience with a view to a class struggle when practicing an individual sport. Without solidarity at the bottom, what would the voice of Rafa, Roger or Novak be worth? The Frenchman wonders: "of course it lacks support for the small players but on the other hand, what to ask the big names to speak to the organ and yell as well as some did during the qualifiers? We are not going to tell them to repay the prize money of those who have forfeited so in the end, what would it have changed? "

Cynicism and resignation

Smoke in the air, resignation too. The cynicism of the organizers highlighted by the day on Tuesday made everyone understand that, whatever happens, they will always find a good excuse for the Australian Open to take place. Bourgue, always. "The organ tells us that it is playable with an air quality index up to 97, then we are told that between 97 and 200 finally it is also playable ... They justify all this by saying that they hired weather and air quality experts. The agent abounds:

"I am pessimistic, for me nothing will happen. If there is another cloudy episode, there will be interruptions then when there are less fine particles in the air, they will send the players back to the court. Like when it rains. All while getting us out of environmental markers that only they can check and ensuring that the lives of players are not in danger. The usual huge pipe. "

In the meantime, the mid-week rains have cleared the air and will offer players at least two days of respite. And as much time for Nadal, Federer and Djokovic to organize the players' front in the event of a new episode of pollution. Or at least pretend.

Sport

Australian Open: "It blocks the lungs" ... Two French qualifiers tell about the hell of Melbourne

• Melbourne
• Sport
• Rafael Nadal
• Fire
• Australian Open
• Roger Federer