The Centenary Club of LE TIR, in Paris (France), welcomed a CTC seniors tournament for players aged Over 35 and Over 45 on October 5-6 2019. The visiting teams were Cumberland Lawn Tennis Club (London, UK), Berlin Rot Weiss Tennis Club (Germany), and Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899 (Spain).

With poor weather forecasts in the days leading up to the tournament, the decision was taken to play the entire competition – semi-finals and finals – on the Saturday. The day started with Paris vs. Berlin and London vs. Barcelona. All teams started playing under the rain as it was slight and forecast to stop before long…but unfortunately it rained persistently and the playing conditions were not pleasant.

The English and Spanish players agreed to continue playing under the rain as it should stop within 30 minutes, and as they were on artificial clay courts which were more acceptable and not dangerous due to sliding.

The two Over 45 games between Paris and Berlin were played to completion outside, while the rest of both teams went to play the rest of the match on covered courts outside LE TIR. At 2pm, Paris won against Berlin 6/3 (after starting the 3 doubles at equal score of 3/3). By this time, the rain finally stopped, and all teams could play the finals outside at LE TIR.

The finals commenced at 3pm: Barcelona vs. Le Tir, and London vs. Berlin, with 3 courts for each game and a reduced playing format (2 sets of 4 games and super tiebreak in the 3rd set). Both finals were very balanced and ended with a final and decisive doubles match. Paris won against Barcelona 5/4, with an Over 35 player saving match points. London won against Berlin, also 5/4. Fortunately, at Le Tir while there are no covered courts, there are floodlights. The atmosphere with tight final matches under the lights and in the night made the end of this tournament even more special, after having started under the rain in the morning. The silver lining to the outcome was that everyone was more than happy to have a shower and enjoy a very warm cocktail and friendly dinner at LE TIR.

On Sunday, a brunch was offered to all the teams, who came back to enjoy Le Tirs’s facilities. The sun was back again, so some went swimming in the outside pool, or playing tennis or having massages … or going to the Louis Vuitton Foundation museum that is just a few meters from the club.

The conclusion is that despite very bad weather conditions we can always enjoy playing tennis, so long a good team spirit and happiness to meet other teams by traveling are there. A warm thank you to the CTC organisation for giving us the opportunity to play senior team events like these ones.