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Lucie Rochette–Montalieu
Published on June 18, 2024 at 6:03 p.m.; updated June 18, 2024 at 6:08 p.m. See my news Follow Le Réveil de Neufchâtel
Among the young ball boys who worked on the clay court of Roland-Garros was Alice, a 15-year-old from Aumalois. A graduate of ES Aumale Tennis, she made a dream come true after being selected among the thousands of young people who applied for the tournament. “We were tested on endurance, speed, technical gestures,” the young girl remembers.
After passing the first stage of selection with 5,000 other candidates, she completed a training course, “with 2,000 preselected across France”. Finally, she was chosen with 279 other young people to be pickers during the three weeks of competition.
A “check” with Carlos Alcaraz
It is impossible for her to give the precise number of matches she attended.
His role during these weeks was to collect the balls, but also to fill the bottles and more generally respond to the players’ requests. For everyone, singles, doubles or armchair matches. “All the players were respectful to us,” says Alice.
It was a dream to be as close as possible to our idols, especially at Roland Garros, the most famous grand slam tournament.
Alice
During these three weeks, she had a series of meetings and accumulated memories.
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“My best memory is the match between Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva and Irina-Camelia Begu in the 3rd round. There is always an atmosphere when a Frenchman plays,” recalls the young Aumaloise, her eyes still sparkling. She also attended Alizé Cornet’s last match before her sporting retirement, “a match full of emotions”.
But also and above all, his “check” with this year’s male winner, Carlos Alcaraz, his favorite player. “I took part in the opening ceremony of the final, and after the match we made a guard of honor for him when he returned to the locker room. Celebrating with him was awesome. »
Returning to the Philippe-Chatrier court on the day of the final is very impressive
Renew the experience
Apart from the sporting experience, Alice loved getting together with young people her age to talk about their passion: tennis. A sport that she has been practicing since she was 8 years old in the Aumalois club.
She kept in touch with many former comrades, including her roommate during the event. “I stayed with a volunteer family for these three weeks, whose daughter was also a ball boy,” she explains. Maybe to go back next year?
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2024-06-18 16:03:42
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