At Roland Garros, these shadow workers who “put their hands in the clay”

No tennis stars on the courts, no crowds cheering them on in the stands. Delivery trucks are parked in the silent lanes of the stadium and the sodden ground bears witness to the passage of the cleaning crew. Roland Garros wakes up this Thursday, May 25. It’s 6:30 a.m. and the clay court maintenance staff is starting their shift.

At the heart of the Paris Grand Slam tournament, Aurelien, Mikael, Eric, Laurence and Vincent perform large circular movements with the handle, but not the racket. All five armed with one “Witch’s Broom”Their daily mission is to restore beauty to the ocher surface of the Court Philippe-Chatrier.

It is the same program every morning. First, the layer of gray earth must be removed at night. Then scrape off any lumps on the surface. Then, remove the piles on the wheels and return the clean crushed brick, scattering it with a shovel. Finally, homogenize everything by passing through a sieve (mesh) and pour a chemical product – calcium chloride – to preserve moisture. An hour and a half later, the garden where Rafael Nadal won 14 Paris titles is now ready for another day of tennis.

During matches, at the end of each set (or in the case of fixed-time practice), maintenance personnel enter the court in trotting groups. Two of them run the line, two clean the lines and water the court if the bench judge wishes, taking care to get the hose to several people so that no marks are left.

“Atmosphere of military service”

At Porte d’Auteuil, the stadium has 18 courts, including three main ones, to be added two annexes dedicated to off-site training (four courts hidden in the Bois de Boulogne and eleven in the Club Paris Jean Bouin).

Eleven clay artisans are employed year-round to look after it, with another eight arriving in early spring and, above all, a fleet of 175 arriving during the three-and-a-half-week Grand Slam tournament (qualifying included). At 78, Guy is one of the oldest. He likes this mix “People from all regions of France” which reminds him a bit “Atmosphere of military service” – More variety.

The panorama is wide. So we find precarious workers, seasonal workers famous for the brand of ski goggles on their faces, students who have just finished part-time exams, retirees, tennis fans… others less so.