Yannick Noah was present on Saturday at Roland-Garros for the day dedicated to him. The former French No. 1 notably performed in concert in front of a very full Philippe-Chatrier court and will inaugurate this Sunday in the Parisian stadium a fresco in memory of his victory in 1983. The last French winner of the tournament also lent to the game of questions and answers with the media, the opportunity to address a somewhat sensitive subject in current tennis: the breaks of the players during the meetings.
Locker room break, physio break, toilet break, doctor break, these multiply over time, which has the effect of lengthening the matches while cutting the pace. A habit that Yannick Noah commented on with a piquant humor, visibly annoyed by this recent trend. “No, I think players today have smaller bladders. (Laughs) I don’t see anything else. I’m talking about the minims until my last game, I never wanted to pee on the court. You sweat, you piss before. I never wanted to pee. (Laughter) So there is a bladder problem. There are already mental problems, bladder problems”, first commented the former captain of the Blues in the Davis Cup.
Noah recognizes, however, that the call to the doctor or the physiotherapist may be legitimate in certain cases. “The physio… A difficult match, there is a moment when the physical aspect is important. The guy is tired at some point. A guy in great shape, he doesn’t need the physio. There is fatigue at some point which means that you need help, a little message, a little stretching, well yes!”, he adds, however regretting abuse and cinema from some players . “It’s endless afterwards. If I dominate you physically, that’s part of the game. If you get injured… I sincerely think that in 95% of cases, they are not injured, they resume. So it’s really to break the rhythm of the game. However, the rhythm of the match is essential”, detailed the 63-year-old singer, ending his remarks on a new amusing note: “I don’t want to be the old idiot who comes to tell… On the other hand, we can really check together this bladder problem. (Laughs).”
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