French Open champion turns shelf stacker during pandemic

]A yr after successful the boys’s doubles title at Roland Garros, German tennis participant Kevin Krawietz helps out through the coronavirus pandemic by stacking cabinets in his native grocery store.

“I’ve been working for a discount supermarket on a 450 euros ($488) basis for a few weeks now,” Krawietz, who received the 2019 French Open title with Antoine Mies, instructed journal Der Spiegel.

Munich-based Krawietz, ranked 13th in doubles, says that as a professional he has a particular allow to “train three or four times a week” at an area tennis corridor.

The 2020 tennis season has been decimated by the coronavirus and the French Open has been postponed from May till September.

When not coaching, Krawietz, 28, is busy stacking cabinets through the pandemic. Germany at present has 155,193 circumstances of the virus and 5,750 deaths thus far.

“I sort out the shelves, make sure the sausage and cheese is well stocked and sort out the empty boxes,” he defined.

“Last week, I was on security duty at the entrance, spraying shopping trolleys with disinfectant.” Krawietz had been contemplating “a normal job”, however “thanks to coronavirus, I now have the opportunity to do so”.

He says the expertise offers him a better “appreciation” of his profession as a tennis professional.

“My colleagues are sometimes in the shop from half past five to fill the shelves,” he mentioned.

“I, on the other hand, have had the luxury of being able to turn my hobby into my profession.” Krawietz and Mies loved a breakthrough yr in 2019, backing up victory in Paris by reaching the semi-finals of the US Open.

Before that nonetheless, Krawietz admits usually having struggled to make ends meet, “some years I finished in the red”.

“Once I won a little over a thousand euros in prize money for a tournament in Italy, that was my weekly salary,” he added.

“I have to pay tax on that, take out travel expenses and the fee for a coach. There was not much left.” He backed Novak Djokovic’s current calls to arrange an support fund to assist low-ranking execs struggling financially.

“That can certainly help some players survive,” mentioned Krawietz.

“But all in all it would be nice if we – independent of coronavirus – could make it possible to make a good living out of the sport even beyond the Top 100.”