At Roland Garros
In the purest tradition of the great Greek thinkers of Antiquity, Stefanos Tsitsipas, qualified for the third round of the Roland-Garros tournament this Wednesday by dominating the Spaniard Carballes Baena (6-3, 7-6, 6-2) , lent himself to the game of Platonic allegories by comparing the life of a tennis court, its watering, its maintenance, to that of a man. A nice step aside at a press conference.
“It’s soul cleansing. It’s a bit like in life. We’re making a clean sweep of the past, and we’re starting with something new. It’s a nice feeling, when you enter a court where the net has been passed, the lines are well cleaned. It makes for a great viewing experience. But there is beauty too when the court is full of marks. We see all the effort, the footwork work, all the effort that has been put in. You have a vision of the effort that has been put in so that you can succeed in what you do.
It’s practically a spiritual cleansing. I am attached to this, because I have played on this surface since my tennis debut. These rituals, I have seen them, they are part of me. It’s part of my identity. I’ve done it myself thousands of times. Now it’s a ritual that is done by other people. It’s no longer me passing the net and clearing the field.