The second lockdown hits the tennis centers hard, they fell between chair and bench. Ex-professional Michel Kratochvil’s cry for help.
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Published: 02/08/2021, 8:27 pm—
–He looks into the unknown: Michel Kratochvil on Monday morning in his empty tennis hall.
Photo: Raphael Moser
Michel Kratochvil is standing alone in the Sagi Bolligen sports center this Monday morning near Bern. The five tennis courts: empty. The restaurant: closed. There is something eerie about the scenery. Kratochvil only switched on the lighting for the photographer. And the former Davis Cup player, once dhe world number 35, the question arises: Will the lights go out soon?
Since December 22nd, only children up to the age of 16 and members of the management team have been allowed to play tennis. Ten days earlier, the facilities had been closed in the evening from 7 p.m. and an den weekendn has been decreed. In Bolligen, the occupancy rate this January was 17 percent compared to the same month last year. In Ostermundigen, where Kratochvil still operates the Flamingo sports center, were it around 28 percent. “Actually, there is only something going on on Wednesday and Friday afternoons,” says the 41-year-old, who has put all employees on short-time work.
