INAUGURATION

The renovated centre court has been admired by many members & tested by quite a few of us; comments have been appreciative.  The remarks of the first visitors were inaudible (a pair of local doves); the first two players were Claudia & Iefje.

A much awaited doubles match took place today from 10 am to midday: Claudia & Ken against Joyce & Olivier.  Initial briefing came mainly from Joyce, giving her new partner valuable tactical advice from her vast experience in this domain. 

It is not certain from this photo, what Olivier is answering; he is probably explaining why he can't possibly do what Joyce is asking him, & repeating how important it is for them to win this match. Ever since he & his sister Sandrine bought this Club, he often repeats, he has not yet won a single match!

The match started & continued spectacularly at great speed; service-volley tactics were common, rapid interventions, with all four players near the the net, then two running back to collect a high lob, terrifying smashes bouncing out of court!  In fact the sort of brilliant play we expect at this level & on this new, agreeable surface.  Three games all in the first set gradually gave way to a 6/4 win for Ken & Claudia; the struggle had been intense with numerous well-fought points. Here now are photos of the strong forehands of the two men: note how they hit off the right foot on an open-stance forehand, & then admire Claudia's ballerina-like service. What a performance!

The second set was a similar hard struggle with each player making errors & then brilliant recoveries. After a three games all, & a five games all, the Ken-Claudia team just won the match with 7/5 in the second set.

I don't know how Olivier managed to slip & fall down during this last set, but here is a photo showing how Joyce explained to him, what he did wrong.

Well done everyone!

CENTRE COURT

After today, the description 'centre court' of the Vignal assumes a new significance: a day's work of two men extremely well-versed in all aspects of 'terre-battue', construction, maintenance, & repair, have transformed our first-made(1) playing surface (2).

Let me elaborate; as external appearances do not do justice to the word 'transformed'.  I was able to watch carefully the first watering & scraping to remove the outer surface.  This was followed by the removal of a base-line, & the continued use of a remarkably well-conceived machine to churn-up a measured depth of the over-hardened surface material(3). This yielded a sizeable patch of reddish earth apparently ready for the sowing of some suitable crop!  Such a future was not to be of course;  the chosen area was that over-worn portion we all use too much, & which has contributed to the large puddles after rain.

The repairs consisted of a layer of terre-granitique covered with a layer of brique-pilée (3) assiduously rolled-in. The same procedure at the other end of the court; new base-lines hammered down,  the whole court spread with nearly a tonne of this agreeable red surfacing, has resulted in a centre court worthy of the best tennis clubs of France!  When your time comes, use it with respect!

A portion of the final result:

Notes:
 (1) This is the court made by the family, after the purchase of the land by Suzanne Gardet  in 1975. 
 (2)  The firm chosen for this work is well-known in other tennis clubs, Monaco & Roland Garros included.
 (3)  The american term 'claycourt' is justified in that roasting of clay is used to make bricks; these are crushed to give the material used for the surface layer. The colour comes incidentally from the presence of iron(III) oxide.