The Maidiérois Théo Amstutz, 16 years old, licensed at the Mussipontain tennis club, knows it well: when you play in tournaments at amateur level, each player must pick up his balls. On the other hand, at high level, in major tournaments such as Roland-Garros and Winbledon, teams of ball collectors are used. At the Open de Moselle, teams of collectors aged 12 to 16 are recruited; there are six per match. Theo is one of them.
For what ? Too lazy players? Not at all, the intervention of these young people facilitates the beautiful game and the speed of resuming games. But the “ballos”, as they are called at Roland-Garros, are not limited to picking up balls. They are responsible for towels, drinks and parasols and will have to practice mastering a choreography developed by Ridha Bensalha in 1974 to make the game more fluid and allow greater speed when it resumes. Three techniques, rolling, balancing and rebounding, are orchestrated and physical qualities of endurance, skill and discretion are required on the ground.
Since he was 12
Théo Amstutz has all the required qualities which have allowed him to be a pick-up player since the age of 12 at Roland-Garros and at the Moselle Open, in Metz, a tournament which takes place in the fall. The nicest player, for the young player, is Stanislas Wawrinka who always thanks.
Ranked 15/3, Théo is aiming for 5/6 like his sister.
Studies as a physiotherapist or osteopath are running through his mind, as well as passing on his passion for the little yellow ball.
2023-12-05 05:00:00
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