Roland Garros Court 18: Only in my dreams

With its brand new clay surface groomed and raked after each set, its lines carefully swept free from dust,  gently watered in the heat and lovingly tucked under covers during rainy spells, this has to be one of the best courts in Paris. Add to that a scrupulously adjusted net, new balls supplied every seven games, a line judge to adjudicate every call and a scoreboard so no one ever has to be reminded who is serving or from which side and you are pretty much looking at perfection. 

Needless to say I was watching rather than playing!

Court 18 is the newest outside court at Roland Garros and definitely one of my favourites. With plenty of room for spectators on all sides you are guaranteed a great view and in close enough proximity to hear the swish of a racket and maybe even catch a stray ball. 

My friend Tanya and I were there for our annual trip to the French Open and were more than happy to be in the cheap seats with our €20 ground tickets. The weather forecast was diabolical, but at that price any tennis was a bonus. We arrived when the ground opened at 10am and bagged great seats behind the baseline to watch John McEnroe pair up with French veteran Cedric Pioline in the Trophée des Légendes.

A huge hit with the crowds: tennis legend John McEnroe

It was a great match with McEnroe jokingly querying line calls to cries of "You cannot be serious?" from the delighted crowd. When the umpire overturned a line call in McEnroe's favour on a close serve he asked her: "Where were you 30 years ago?" After a particularly arduous rally Pioline borrowed a chair from a line judge and played from sitting - almost winning the point. In the end the pair beat their opponents Spain's Sergi Bruguera and Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui by two sets to love.

Pioline takes a pew

I always enjoy watching the cut and thrust of doubles on clay courts - so much more entertaining than endless grunting rallies from the baseline during singles matches. The thrilling volleys and cheeky lobs had the players dashing all over the court jumping and sometimes even diving for shots. On Court 18 you are also close enough to see the player at the net give a secret behind-the-back hand signal to their partner, or to overhear a whispered tactical aside. 

We'd already enjoyed a ladies doubles match in the Trophée des Légendes Dames featuring France's Marion Bartoli who was playing with Martina Navratilova against Belgium's Kim Clijsters and Nathalie Tauziat of France and we returned after a break for lunch (this is France after all!) to watch the semi-final of the mixed doubles in which Latisha Chan and Ivan Dodig beat Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Robert Farah in a hard-fought tie-break. Most striking was seeing the size of today's tennis stars who look like Amazons in comparison with the stars of yesteryear. Tracy Austin, who I remember becoming the youngest ever winner of the US Open at the age of 16 in 1979, looked absolutely tiny when she came out to play her doubles match with fellow American Lindsay Davenport against Spain's Conchita Martinez and France's Sandrine Testud. 

Brolly good show - the covers come on

It was at this point that the heavens finally opened and the covers came on. We decided to call it a day - if Roland Garros has a fault it is that there is nowhere for the thousands of spectators to shelter. All the seating, even on the big show courts, is open to the elements, the assorted cafes and snack bars are all out in the open and the various merchandising stands are little more than that. We weren't complaining though. We'd definitely had our €20 worth and headed back into Paris for an aperitif and some post-match analysis. Next stop Paris Tennis to book a court for our next game!

Tanya (right) - who took most of these photos

Tennis Candie: An absolute hoot!

Tennis Candie was an early favourite when I first started playing in Paris. Tucked away in a back street off the bustling Rue St Antoine, not far from Bastille, it has two courts - one with wheelchair access and one perched on the roof of a sports hall up a concealed flight of stairs. It hadn't popped up in the reservations for some time and I thought perhaps it was so popular it was always booked up or  it had  been removed altogether, like the lovely courts in Jardin Luxembourg. In fact I now wonder if it was closed for refurbishment as both courts were immaculately surfaced in green carpet, with pristine markings and new nets (though watch out for the posts - they are not sunk into the ground, but are on a stand with wheels and my partner managed to trip up twice). We arrived early, produced our passports, and finding Court 1 empty nipped on for a quick knock-up while the game finished upstairs.

Both courts were equally pristine, but while Court 2 is purely a tennis court, Court 1 has two other pitches marked out in a confusing jumble of lines. On a sunny, May day it was an appealing location. Wisteria tumbling down a neighbouring building was about to burst into flower, a man was setting out deckchairs on his rooftop terrace, washing fluttered from a balcony and an old lady, sunning herself in a window seat, appeared to watch our game. It would also have been peaceful were it not for a team of workmen on a cherrypicker trimming a curtain of foliage on a neighbouring modern building - we were treated to a racket of hooting every time they adjusted the height of the platform.

The court surface took a bit of getting used to - the bounce is low requiring even more running than usual (I much prefer doubles!). It was also slightly static - fluffing up the fibres on our tennis balls, but easy underfoot, non-slip and far preferable to concrete. The area around Tennis Candie makes it a great spot for a lunchtime game with lots of cafés and bars nearby as well as the Marché Aligre. We rounded off our game with some Dim Sum at 21G Dumpling on the corner - great serves followed by great service!

Tennis Candie
11 Rue Candie
75011
Paris
Metro: Ledru Rollin

Tennis Philippe Auguste: Playing to the Max

My top tennis-playing chum Maxine was in Paris for the week with a special request to play on one of the city courts. She's more used to the glamour of club tennis at David Lloyd in York so I chose the location with care, opting for the peace and privacy of Philippe Auguste with its perfectly carpeted surface that could almost pass for grass in the spring sunshine. I'd reserved and paid online using the new booking system and remembered to take my passport as proof of identity, but this was not enough for the French jobsworth manning reception. He also wanted to see ID for my daughter, who I'd listed as my partner for the day and apparently only a passport would do. I thought for a moment that he wasn't going to let us play and that Max had travelled hundreds of miles for nothing - she'd already been inconvenienced by the French unions when her Eurostar was cancelled. Fortunately I remembered from long experience of dealing with French bureaucracy that the best way to reach a compromise is to keep smiling and waving and never on any account lose your temper. It is worth noting this new rule - however inexplicably bureaucratic it may seem - and making sure you have everyone's ID with you to avoid any pre-match misunderstandings.  In the end the jobsworth let us through and in fact we were ten minutes early so were able to enjoy a long warm-up on the empty court without eating into our hour of play. It was a perfect April-in-Paris day - sunny and warm with a light breeze and we couldn't wait to get started. Maxine is a much better player than I am, but had spun some story about suffering from tennis elbow to lull me into a false sense of security. She also claimed to be hindered by playing with an unfamiliar racket, but in fact she was on top of her game serving and playing well. I was able to sneak a small advantage by partnering my son, who regularly plays doubles with me, while she and my daughter were playing together for the first time in an unfamiliar combination. Alex and I took the first set, but she and Sophie came back in the second having got the measure of each other's games and we ended on a draw. Most importantly it was tremendous fun with some great rallies and net play. We topped off the match with a stroll home through Père Lachaise cemetery which is just around the corner from Philippe Auguste (no passport required).

Tennis Philippe Auguste
108 Avenue Philippe Auguste
75011
Paris
Metro: Philippe Auguste

Tennis Docteurs Déjerine: What a racket!

It was one of those wintry spring days - well just wintry really. The daffodils were out and some early blossom was making a valiant attempt after the glacial temperatures of the half-term holidays, but essentially it was dark and damp with a threat of rain. We had booked a covered court to be on the safe side although in fact the showers held off in the end. It is so long since I've played that Paris Tennis has introduced an entirely new on-line booking system which I found slightly confusing to navigate and which also insisted we pay in advance for our court - presumably to prevent people jamming up the system with bookings and then failing to turn up. At a hefty €17 for a covered court there was no chance of us ducking out at the last minute and so we took the bus to the lacklustre Porte de Montreuil to hit some balls. Grim doesn't really begin to describe it - the steely sky, the graffiti-scrawled social housing, the roar of the Périphèrique - not a sight to liven the heart on a dull March morning. But the court was well surfaced, with an excellent net and clear markings and even though the forecast rain never materialised it was reassuring to be on a dry, non-slip surface as I sprinted around.

Docteurs Déjerine is never the most peaceful spot, with the traffic on the ring-road hurtling by just through the hedge and the wail of sirens from the near-by hospital, but it was noisier than ever today with some kind of earth moving work going on at the neighbouring boules club making any kind of on court banter nearly impossible. On the plus side, I like the fact that this court is open-sided so although you are protected from the elements you still feel as if you are having a blow about in the open air. There are few things more exhilarating than a good game of tennis so I was full of beans when I came off court - even more so when I checked my phone to find an email from a fellow tennis enthusiast notifying me that tickets for the French Open were about to go on sale. I left with a spring in my step and with Roland Garros on the calendar, spring is definitely in the air! 

Tennis Docteurs Déjerine

32 Rue des docteurs Dejerine 

75020 PARIS

Metro Mairie de Montreuil

Henry de Montherlant: Volley good game

The 16th arrondissement has a reputation for being stuffy. Its long avenues lined with elegant Hausmannian apartment blocks are the haunt of ancient Parisian pensioners with their pampered poodles and Hermès scarves. Several were in evidence today shuffling to lunch in their Sunday finest, dogs and dowagers greeting one another alike. But in the autumn sunlight the streets had never looked more inviting, the golden stone seemed to glow and I could easily imagine myself perched on one of the sun-soaked balconies soaking up the unseasonable October warmth and listening to the rustle of autumn leaves.
The 16th is on the opposite side of Paris to us - 9 o'clock to our 3 o'clock  - but nowhere is really very far away 'intra-muros' and even with a Metro change it took us less than 40 minutes to get there. Tennis Henry de Montherlant is a pleasant ten-minute stroll from the Rue de la Pompe metro through  hushed streets past grand houses and entrances and is situated next door to the monolithic Russian embassy on Boulevard Lannes.
We had played here once before, but I had forgotten quite how smart these public courts were - many of them newly re-surfaced.

We were round the corner on Court 2 surrounded by trees and overlooking the Bois de Boulogne. It's a leafy setting, but the court surface was poor - as if Courts 1 and 2 had been forgotten in the renovation and there were a few deep cracks and worn patches that I remembered from last time. It didn't put us off - the glorious weather was more than enough to compensate and at least the net was in a decent state. It seemed to inspire my net play after a bit of volley practice with my partner and we went on to triumph. A welcome return to form.

Full marks for court maintenance: Louis Lumière

I've felt quite Parisian this autumn - after a summer spent almost entirely out of the city I finally understand why the French are so obsessed with what they call La Rentrée. It is a concept so French that the English don't even have a word for it. It literally means "the return" - to school, to work, to the city itself - and it's quite a thing here, as much of an event as Easter, Halloween or Christmas in terms of shop displays and marketing opportunities. So after a month spent busily installing everyone back at school, in a new job in the case of my husband, enrolling the kids in sports clubs (football and ice skating) and getting back to work etc we finally returned to tennis this weekend. Most excitingly my daughter has a new racket which she was desperate to try out and after only managing the occasional singles with my son over the summer I was looking forward to reviving the family four. Unless you book a week in advance, the best way to get a weekend reservation is to go on line the morning of the day you want to play and look for a cancellation. I found one for 2pm on Sunday on Court 2 at Louis Lumière - close to home and newly renovated. We'd last played here on my birthday back in June and courts 2 and 3 must have the best surface of any public courts in Paris - and I say that as someone who has played on many of them.

 Court 2 was slightly let down by its poor net with its macramé-style repairs, but after the first set we moved to Court 3 which had become empty and found a brand new net in place. It was a lovely autumn afternoon, perfect for tennis - not too hot and with no breeze. Sophie's racket proved a winner and despite her midnight tour of the city's museums and sights with her friends during the famous Nuit Blanche (another Parisian concept where many attractions stay open all night with free entry for visitors) she was not too tired to triumph on court. She even had enough energy for a 100 metres victory sprint on the athletics track afterwards.

We shouldn't leave it too long for a re-match!

THE WINNER: WHAT A RACKET!

Happy return(s): Tennis Louis Lumière

I haven't blogged for ages, not because I haven't been playing tennis, but because I've been playing on the same courts over and over again - close to home or tried and tested. I've played at Louis Lumière before, but the court we played on today - number two - was so beautifully resurfaced and with such clear markings I felt it deserved an honourable mention. There are three courts here and numbers two and three are now of the same high standard, this is a huge improvement on a year or so ago when we found court three had huge potholes and a net held up by a stick! Court maintenance has been duly carried out although court number one is now very much the poor relation - take note when booking.

It was my birthday and the sun was out, none of us was in top sporting form having rolled in at 2am from a surprise party the night before. I was still suffering from the effects of one too many glasses of Champagne, but no matter - my partner was as keen as a ever for victory so the match was on. We've been playing on the worn out surfaces at Porte de Bagnolet of late - school playground standard with fading lines and sagging nets. The net at Louis Lumière had a few small holes, but it was the right height and was securely fixed at the bottom to resist any gusts of wind. The court surface was the best we've played on - smooth and newly painted with clearly visible lines (and no other markings - nothing worse than misjudging a lob because you're looking at the markings of the handball court).

My partner occupies the high ground

I'd like to say we did it justice, but my partner complained it was a lacklustre game in spite of our decisive win. I was just delighted to be playing on a such a great court and couldn't think of a better way to blow away my birthday hangover. It's a holiday weekend here so I'm enjoying a three day celebration - well four in fact as I have tickets for Roland Garros on Tuesday which will also be the perfect occasion to treat myself to some more new balls.

30 rue Louis Lumière

75020 Paris

Metro: Porte de Bagnolet