We had just arrived at Bush Intercontinental in Houston on Wednesday, March 11th. We beat two SEC contenders the past weekend, South Carolina and Florida. We were really excited for the trip to Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
From that moment, everything changed.
Three hours later, we learned that we will play with no fans for the next few games. Five hours later, I knew that my parents wouldn’t be able to come for senior day because of travel restrictions. The next morning close to the end of practice in Starkville, our head coach tells us that our match had been cancelled along with every match for the next two weeks. Well we think it will be fine, we will practice and I guess the schedule will be packed to make up these missed matches. We start hitting the road to go to the airport and suddenly a few notifications pop up on my phone and it was all over.
The NCAA cancelled all remaining spring National Championships until June because of the spread of the coronavirus. It was like I’d been punched in the face, I didn’t know what to think about. Our team was starting play amazing, everyone had raised their level the past few weeks and we were ready to make some more noise.
It is crazy how you can go from joy to tears in less than 24 hours. I am the only senior on my team, I suddenly realized that beating Florida a few days ago was the last match as a college player and that my last season was cut off about half way through. I called my parents to let them know and I started tearing up. To be honest, I tried my best to not be sad after that and I knew there was no way the NCAA was going to say well it’s over I am sorry for all the seniors you guys won’t compete again. My coach gave me a hug when we got to the airport and I told him “I am not done, there’s no chance I’m going out this way”.
Originally, I did not think this virus would be that serious for us, but that changed very quickly. Social media were talking about that 24/7, but everything went at a different pace worldwide. At home back in France, where all of my family lives, all the towns were shut down and everyone had to quarantine themselves. Going outside is prohibited. Back in College Station, there was no cases for a few days so it was hard to realize what was going on. Also, it was spring break so there was literally no students in town and I didn’t know what the future was going to be like.
It started to clear up a few days later. All the classes were moved online, we had our end of the year diner with all the staff in March, much earlier than it had ever been. We didn’t know what we could do or not, practicing on our courts was prohibited but we were allowed to train at other courts. Most of my teammates left along with most of our friends that play other sports. I made the decision to stay in College Station and not go back to France because I wouldn’t be able to train and leave my house, even if I would love to be with my family.
Six days after we came back from Starkville and I had not been productive at all. The ATP tour was cancelled for the next six weeks so I decided to begin to get ready for when it was going to open up.
I started to have daily routines, setting an alarm in the morning, getting my school work done, practice once a day to not lose the feeling and have one or two workout sessions. A few days after starting a new semester, the verdict fell, the professional tour was cancelled until July. How naive was I to really think it was going to be six weeks? I decided to not even think about it and stick with my routine. I am going to work as much as I can to make the most of it and get better the whole time, but take as many precautions possible from the virus.
You get really creative in times like this, all the gyms are closed, I started working out a lot in the living room, probably did over 1500 push ups and a couple hours of core work. I once found myself doing footwork in the hallway in front of my apartment and I have been running a lot. We have a small workout room in the back of the courts with a few lightweights to change it up sometimes. I stay in touch as much as I can with my family, we FaceTime a couple times a week, I play online video games with my nephews. With my routine in place, the days are going by really fast.
On March 30th, the NCAA granted spring student-athletes another season of eligibility. I am very grateful, it had to be done knowing how many student-athletes were left heartbroken and their season halfway complete.
Personally, I can’t wait to go play on the professional tour, I am in the starting blocks for it and so motivated.
But, there was no way my college career was going to end this way. We have unfinished business and the potential to win an NCAA title. Bringing a National Championship trophy to Texas A&M is a dream and would mean the world to me.
This is why I made the decision to stay and I cannot wait to wear the Maroon & White for another season!