VIDEO: Two Italian women play tennis on the rooftop while maintaining social distance
- 20 Apr 2020
Even though the entire tennis calendar has come to a grinding halt due to coronavirus pandemic, ardent fans of the game have made sure they remain connected to the sport.
With social distancing in place across the world to spread the novel coronavirus, two girls in Italy have taken the 'tennis at home' to a whole, new level.
In the city of Liguria, two junior players found a creative way of playing tennis at home while maintaining social distancing, hitting the ball to and from one another's rooftops.
According to the ATP Tour website, the video -- posted Saturday -– has earned millions of views across social media platforms and it also yielded one of the most-viewed tweets in the ATP Tour account's history.
Carola Pessina playing tennis with Vittoria Oliveri (unseen) from the rooftop of her house. AFP
The video has been shared by various celebrities, including Stefanos Tsitsipas. Rex Chapman, a former NBA basketball player, tweeted the video and said it was the, "most incredible thing you'll see today". Piers Morgan, who is followed by more than 7 million people on Twitter, also shared the video.
Recently, Swiss legend Roger Federer came out with a volley challenge which was also taken up by Serena Williams.
Vittoria Oliveri playing tennis with Carola (unseen) on rooftop of her house. AFP
Federer's challenge has been taken up by a number of people in the tennis world in their own way. While Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi did it with a frying pan, Ashleigh Barty, who had taken a
break from tennis to pursue a cricket career, did it with a cricket bat.
The tennis calendar, as is the case with all sports, has been frozen due to the coronavirus pandemic with all professional tennis activities remaining suspended till July 13.
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam that could be played this year with the French Open being postponed to September and Wimbledon being cancelled for the first time since the Second World War. Uncertainty surrounds the US Open with the women's leg of the Rogers Cup being cancelled earlier this month.
