Our journalist tried to return the service of Gabriel Diallo, 136^e racket in the world and rising star of Quebec tennis who will defend Canada’s Davis Cup title in two weeks.

Last summer, a survey conducted by an American agency sparked a major debate in the different spheres of tennis: 71% of the 2,400 recreational tennis players surveyed said they could take at least one game from a professional in a two-match duel. of three.

The Press therefore went to the IGA stadium on Thursday to try the experience. Gabriel Diallo, 22 years old and 136^e world player, was waiting for us with his coach Martin Laurendeau.

The objective: to try to win a game.

After two hours of training, the moment of truth had finally arrived. Diallo, already one of the best servers in the world, just happened to introduce himself to the service.

Please note that your representative The Press played tennis competitively as a child and teenager. He now plays recreationally about twice a week during the summer period.

“Give everything you have. We want an optimal experience!

– Are you sure ? Because it’s going to fit,” warns the 2.07 m (6 ft 8 in) guy in his sponsored clothing.

Babolat in hand, the goal for this first point is simply to touch the ball.

Diallo settles down. Makes six jumps before serving. He throws himself. Its projectile goes off like a rifle bullet. A ball at more than 200 km/h on the forehand. The racket is positioned on the correct side, but unable to get there in time to place the center of the racket in the right place. The ball hits the top of the frame and flies into the heights of the IGA stadium. The first observation, obviously, is the power, but especially combined with the sound of impact. It’s as if the bullet is traveling as fast as sound. The sound of the rope hitting the ball came just as I was about to take off. And because the ball is compressed in the air and appears as small as a mosquito, the chances of getting to impact in time are slim to none. It was Diallo himself, at the other end of the field, who saw the ball fall outside the service square.

Second ball. The few steps back taken out of caution to see the ball coming will have been of no use.

While I was mentally prepared to miss the moving ball, Diallo served a second ball with unpredictable and unreadable spin. The ball was heavy, deep and as it decelerated at impact, it rose extremely quickly. I expected it at the hips, I received it at the shoulders. I still hit the ball, but poorly placed and caught off guard. She fell crosswise, outside.

15-0.

On the advantage side, Diallo aimed for the backhand, obviously. And he took out a spin ball from his racket that I should have been able to return, because it was less darting than the previous two. However, the effect was monstrous. The leap, or the kick, of the ball mystified me. The side chosen was the right one. But the ball appeared to crash as it hit the ground. So I instinctively prepared for a backhand cut, but the ball took a giant leap over my head 1.90 m above the ground. One-handed, with grip sliceimpossible to return the ball decently.

The ball moves like a butterfly ball. And it is completely crazy to think that it is humanly possible to position yourself properly to hit an adequate return.

“And it was like a second! », Adds Diallo to add insult to injury.

30-0.

Third service, third different target for the Montrealer. On this one, he had to imagine himself in Flushing Meadows, in the final of the United States Open against Carlos Alcaraz.

I only knew the ball had passed when it hit the cushions behind me hard. The sound is terrifying. A missile like I had never seen up close. I didn’t even have time to think, reflect or throw myself into one direction. I froze.

40-0.

Backed against the wall, it was time to take a point away from him…

A heavy second, on the forehand side. A fleeing bullet, without much effect, taken at torso level.

Against all my hopes, the calculation of the trajectory was correct. The forehand was free, the contact was violent, the anti-vibrator broke, but at least the ball crossed the net… and the baseline.

Game: Diallo.

“Woah!” “, he said when the ball returned to his feet. But too little, too late.

The professional had just beaten the amateur soundly in 71 seconds.

The findings

“It’s like baseball,” explains Diallo, back on the bench. Good servers are good at working all over the place. And they play with rhythm. It’s like pitchers. They do fastballs, changeups, curves, sliders. We mix the effects, we mix the speed. And the returner is like the hitter trying to guess the server’s tendencies. »

And the last verb used is correct. Guess.

After the services, Diallo allowed himself a few forehands in an attacking situation. The goal was to close the point with a winning shot. Laurendeau put the ball in midfield, Diallo hit it and I just had to return it to him.

But it’s not in this life that that’s likely to happen. This facet of the game is even more difficult to manage, because the ball comes closer, and Diallo’s position is exactly the same on every forehand.

So you have to guess the trajectory of the ball. And take a risk, like a soccer goalkeeper on a penalty kick.

Each strike is brutal, and the ball becomes invisible. Impossible to hit her. It’s like chasing a butterfly with a basket without a net. We can only trust his gaze at the moment of impact to detect where he is aiming. And the time to assimilate the information, Diallo is already returning to his baseline, and the ball is on its third bounce behind, near the wall.

Pretension

And so, 71% of American amateur players believe they can take a game from a professional.

At the mere mention of this fact, Diallo laughs, once seated in the cafeteria of the IGA stadium, around ten minutes after his resounding victory.

And if, in golf, the majority of experts advise amateurs to repeat their short game to improve their performance, Laurendeau prefers to provide Sunday tennis players with even simpler advice: “You must not fall into the trap of trying to recreate what the pros do. »

To improve, the average amateur must “just pass the ball over the net and put it in the court, but according to his ability. You have to enjoy sport, just to enjoy sport as it is. »

As he adds in conclusion: “What we see on TV, there are very few people on the planet who can do that. »

And it’s hard to disagree after such an experience.