Did the last edition of Roland-Garros allow the coronavirus to spread in silence? In the columns of L’Équipe magazine, Tuesday, June 28, Alizé Cornet reveals that the Covid-19 virus has spread widely among tennis players during the tournament without information leaking behind the scenes. “At Roland, there was a Covid epidemic, nobody talked about it. In the locker room, everyone got it and we didn’t say anything. When it comes out in the press, on great players like that [Marin Cilic and Matteo Berrettini are Covid positive and forfeited for Wimbledon, editor’s note], it will start to set the lake on fire everywhere, and that worries me a bit. bit,” the sportswoman said following her Wimbledon first-round victory over Yulia Putintseva today.

The 37th player and first Frenchwoman in the world ranking speaks of “a few cases” voluntarily silenced by “a tacit agreement”. “We’re not going to self-test to get ourselves in trouble!” “She argues to defend this omerta, before tempering the situation experienced:” When we see that Krejcikova withdraws saying “I have the Covid” and that the whole locker room is sick. At some point… We all might have had the flu. The thing is, we have three symptoms, itchy throat, we play and everything is fine, it’s fine. »

The one who won her first victory at Roland-Garros at just 15 years old fears the implementation of a health protocol at Wimbledon, which would be the “pompom”. “There have always been players who withdrew because they were sick”, retorts Alizé Cornet, even if she confides that she does not want to “underestimate the Covid effect”.

“There are players who have gastros, flus. Some years, in tournaments, there were gastrointestinal hecatombs because of not very fresh food. (…) We are not going to put a protocol for gastros! she exclaims. According to her, the Covid-19 is now a known virus, which has “entered into mores”, and against which there are ways to protect ourselves. And to conclude: “We paid the price, we were in a bubble for a year and a half, we all got vaccinated, it’s good. (…) It’s part of our life, the Covid, that’s how it is. »