“When I play, I'm 20 years old in my head”… At 100, Armand hits the ball twice a week at Stade Toulousain Tennis

He is more of a “team Federer” type and a fan of the topspin forehand. Beyond their game, the Swiss champion and Toulouse's Armand Combes have one thing in common: longevity. The first was world number 1 for 237 consecutive weeks, Armand continues to walk the courts of Stade Toulousain even though he has just celebrated his 100th birthday.

Two workouts per week

Twice a week, in a tracksuit and wearing a beret, this watercolor lover devotes himself to his second passion. And it was on the clay of his club's indoor courts that he blew out his candles on Thursday, just before hitting the ball with his coach, Béatrix Reboul. They meet for discussions, exercises and good words every Monday and Thursday, for an hour, since “November 2, 2006” says the teacher, not a little proud of her student, who has become a bit of a darling of the club.

“When I play I feel like I'm 20 years old in my head, it keeps me going. I'm pretty strong on the forehand, Béatrix makes me work on the backhand, she throws balls at me and it gives the impression that “We play. She knows how to detect what is wrong and is always positive, it motivates”, analyzes the young centenarian who never deviates from his sacrosanct appointments, marked with a white cross in his weekly diary. .

“He is very diligent, he doesn't complain much and always wants to learn,” assures the woman who has been training him for 18 years. This thirst for knowledge is what characterizes him according to his daughter Françoise. “In everything he does, he always wanted to improve. He was twice first prize at the Beaux-Arts. He always played sports, pala, rowing… With my brother, he took up all the sports”, remembers the septuagenarian who picks up her father to take him to his class.

Sports, regularity and a good dose of happiness

Because Armand still lives at home. The man who was a drawing teacher and hair prosthetist with his wife, is well surrounded but manages alone. “At his house there are three floors: he shaves on the first floor, showers on the ground floor, gets dressed in the basement. What keeps him going is also regularity. He cooks himself, a lot eggs and pasta. But he also likes to eat oysters or snails. He has a good appetite and has always loved good food. Every Monday we go to a restaurant. He eats fish and meat. white, but he doesn't like red meat”, enumerates Françoise, listing what could correspond to his recipe for longevity.

“My secret? You have to have a healthy lifestyle, I go to bed early, I sleep 12 hours a night, I ride an exercise bike. I don't drink alcohol, I've never overindulged “, assures this pure sugar Toulouse. “He also has good genes. And he never gets angry, I've never seen him angry. He's always in a good mood, positive, he doesn't look at the bad news,” explains his daughter.

A way of approaching life that could be a way of preserving it. His real recipe sounds like a sweet, simple, basic mantra: “All my life I have been happy, with my wife, my two children. And I only have one wish, that they too be happy “. What if that was the secret? “Life is short,” he half-jokes as he continues to chew it.