Practice courts are hot commodity at French Open

PARIS — On Tuesday morning, with fans queuing to get into Roland Garros, a man scurried down the sidewalk carrying two wrapped Babolat rackets. Traveling against the grain, heads turned to see where he was off to.

That would be to the new Jean-Bouin practice center, just a few blocks away from the main French Open site.

With construction around the grounds and player demand for practice courts swelling, Roland Garros this year was forced to make sure it had a viable option for players to get ample preparation time on match-ready courts.

Three courts have been dug up as part of ongoing renovations and a fourth has been recalibrated into a viewing area. Enter Jean-Bouin in what is already the busiest — and most headache-inducing — of practice cultures in Grand Slam tennis.

“The French Open is a distant fourth” among the Slams as far as practice availability, said American doubles player Eric Butorac. “By far.”

In recent years practice time for players has been on the rise. Players use practice partners or coaches instead of one another more often, and with the growing physicality of the game, a more specific approach means players want two or three court times a day in the lead-up to a big event.

It’s a challenge for all four of the major tournaments in tennis.

“The consensus seems to be that there is so much more at stake these days… Players are playing for much, much more in prize money [is available],” said David Brewer, U.S. Open tournament director, in an interview. “They have become that much more scientific and systematic in what they’re doing.”

A Monday afternoon visit to Jean-Bouin, which has nine practice courts, a player lounge, restaurant, fitness area and working press box, confirmed a bustling scene.

Top American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan shared a court with another doubles duo while a 2015 finalist here, Lucie Safarova, hit nearby and Americans Madison Keys and Taylor Townsend (practicing separately) finished up.

“They needed to do something because there is no space here and they have four courts out of play this year compared to last year,” said Butorac, the president of the ATP Player Council. “They were struggling for courts, so something had to be done.”

But Jean-Bouin isn’t the only place players practice. Just across the small A13 highway to the north, there are a collection of four courts in the Bois de Boulogne, which are within walking distance. Courts at the Lagardere Racing Club and Tir aux Pigeons are a drive, however.

“It’s tough, but it is what it is. There are so many players. A lot of people want to practice,” Butorac said. “No other Slams use that many [different] locations for practice facilities.”

As rain wreaked havoc on the scheduled matches and practices Sunday and Monday, many players struggled to find a spot to have a hit. Serena Williams posted a social media video at a roofed clay court.

Those aren’t easy to find in urban Paris, however.

“A few clubs around the area have clay courts, and some very smart players have experience and know their way around, and they can go there,” said tournament director Guy Forget. “But it's very hard for us to provide just like four clay courts for players [indoors].”

Jim Courier, a Tennis Channel commentator and U.S. Davis Cup captain, remembers practice courts always being a problem in Paris.

“This is not a new story,” wrote the former world No. 1 in an email. “Practice courts were an issue at Roland Garros in the 90s. We had to largely practice off site until the second week when courts started to open up.”

While Wimbledon has Aorangi Park, which is a practice facility on the grounds, the U.S. Open uses a collection of practice courts off site (just a few hundred yards away) and the Australian Open has opened a national training center with (indoor and outdoor) courts.

But the demand continues to grow, Brewer said. The U.S. Open is exploring courts to be used for practice around New York City.

“We are looking at a lot of different options at this point for something that would be semi-adjacent to the tournament site,” said Brewer. “We’re also looking at other areas around the New York metro area that could serve as a practice site.”

That includes Central Park, while Butorac ventured that the Bronx could be an option. Brewer said a priority would be a facility – like Jean-Bouin – with a restaurant for the players, as well as a training area and the like.

“[Jean-Bouin] is unbelievable,” added American CoCo Vandeweghe. “For whatever reason I would say it’s more crowded [at the French Open] than the other Slams... The scramble to get practice courts is really quite difficult.”

But the new facility is helping and — when three courts on site are back in use — the problem could be alleviated, at least a little bit.

“[Jean-Bouin] is something amazing,” Vandeweghe said. “The only thing I would poo-poo is that it’s been raining and they don’t have any indoor clay courts.”