On the entire court, inside the Kindarena sports center in Rouen (Seine-Maritime), people are raking, sweeping, flattening the clay: it’s time to install the main court, in view of the third edition of the Rouen Tennis Open, from April 13 to 21. For this third edition, the first in the WTA 250 category (Women’s Tennis Association, the women’s equivalent of the ATP, which organizes women’s professional tennis competitions around the world), big names in women’s tennis are expected: the Japanese Naomi Osakabut also the French number 1 Caroline Garcia or the Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet28th player in the world, will try to win after the winner of the 2023 edition, the Swiss Viktorija Golubic).
With this change in category and this move upmarket, the Rouen Open must adapt and move to indoor clay! So preparations are going well, inside the sports hall, because everything must be ready for the start of qualifying on Saturday. “We are finalizing the installation of the main court“, explains Krisztian Freund, the site manager. “This morning, we finished laying the 400 or so plates on the ground and there, the workers are laying clay to seal the gaps between the plates.” A unique model in the world, and which is rarely used in world tennis competitions.
Marie Martirossian
400 plates and more than a ton of clay
The plates of two meters by one must then be covered with more than a ton of very specific clay : “It has been treated and we won’t need to water it during the competition, which is very practical“, explains Krisztian Freund. “And it’s a 100% reusable model! After dismantling at the end of the tournament, we collect all the plates. For payment reasons, we are not allowed to collect the clay, but we have partnerships with tennis clubs back home, in Hungary, who do not have a lot of money: and so we send them this clay so that they can reuse it.“
With this installation, the Rouen Open will become the first indoor clay court tennis tournament in France, and the second in the world, the other being the tournament in Stuttgart, Germany. A Source of pride and enough to attract even more spectators this year, rejoices Florian Legrand, event project manager : “It’s exceptional to be able to host such a field this year, with some very big names in world tennis. As the tournament has moved to WTA 250, the money price for the players is higher, and they can earn more points in the ranking, which has allowed us to attract players with a higher level, and we are ‘rejoice.”
Marie Martirossian
The last stage, on the program for this Thursday: the installation of the second court, which will be used during the tournament, and which will be installed on the first floor of the Kindarena. Qualifications will take place on Saturday April 13 and Sunday April 14, before the start of the competition on Monday April 15.
