Players participate to restore the rhythm of the matches
Official resumption of tennis activity in America ... Serena: I usually have about 50 masks
Serena admits that she was "tense" during this time. A.F.B.
Tennis activity officially returns to the United States as of today, despite the proliferation of new cases of Coronavirus in it, through the establishment of a session of Lexington (Kentucky), the first official version of which witnesses the participation of veteran Serena Williams.
Although the financial prizes for this tournament are not large (about 200 thousand dollars), they did not discourage some players from participating, especially as most of them want to restore the rhythm of the matches before the start of the US Open, one of the Grand Slam tournaments at the end of this month. .
In addition to Serena, her older sister Venus, the Americans Sloan Stephens and Coco Gove, and the Belarusian Victoria Azarnka also participate. Yellow ball activity was suspended on March 8 due to the outbreak of the "Covid-19" pandemic, and the players did not play any matches except for the show.
"I lived the life of a loner," said Serena, 38, the veteran with 23 big titles. Respect for social distancing began in early March. I did not have much respiratory capacity, and therefore I don’t know what would have happened if I had contracted the (Covid-19) virus, and I don’t want to know that explicitly », referring to breathing difficulties that you previously suffered from. "Often I have about 50 masks," she added. Pay a lot of attention to everything I do from a health standpoint ”- and she admitted that she was" tense "during this time.
Serena, ranked first in this session, revealed that her husband built a special playground for her in the vicinity of the house to continue her training. "All the players rest," she said. "It will be very interesting to see how we are going to play."
As for Azarnka, she said, "We can train as much as we like, but the real level appears during the matches."
"Of course, I miss the competitive games," she added. I did not lose my love for tennis, but I lacked motivation many times during this hiatus. ”