Tennis Louis Lumière: Rallying after the Covid crisis

Encore on court: return to tennis after a long lockdown break

After two months of lockdown in France,  the tennis courts are finally open again. If ever there were a  game that allowed social distancing then surely tennis is it (especially singles), but the public courts were not among the first things to reopen. The Covid crisis also means I've missed my annual birthday week visit to Roland Garros (postponed until September) and there is no Wimbledon to look forward to either - cancelled altogether.
A cheering game of tennis was just the ticket to blow away the coronavirus cobwebs and start getting back to normal, so I booked a court at Louis Lumière, close to home  - with no requirement to take public transport.  There are two excellent refurbished courts  (numbers 2 and 3), but court number one has yet to be upgraded and seemed to be an access route to the open air gym at the far end today, with a steady stream of body-building types carrying weights, heading in that direction.
There was a one way system to enter the sports centre with hand gel provided and the now ubiquitous queueing markers to space out those waiting to check in at reception. The changing rooms were closed, but the loos were open and there was a tap to refill water bottles.
I've missed playing tennis, especially as the spring weather has been so consistently fabulous since we locked down in mid-March. Unfortunately my efforts at keeping fit (in front of the TV with Body Coach Joe Wicks) have led to a knee strain so I was taking it very easy. I was damned if was letting anything get between me and my return to the court, though  at times it felt as if I was channeling my late dad who as he got older, with knee bandages on both knees, relied on crafty ball placement rather than speed around the court. I left my son (and tennis partner) to do the running and astonishingly, despite my handicap, we won the first set 6-1.
Not wishing to tempt fate I sat the rest of the session out. We have booked a holiday home with a tennis court in Annecy from mid August and plan to play every day for a fortnight so I need (kneed) to be in top shape for that.
It felt good to play - and dare I say it, but my knee feels better for it!