When the COVID-19 virus spread to Morocco, the first affected city was Casablanca, which is home to the ITF/CAT High Performance Tennis Centre.

As the situation unfolded and escalated, some of the talented youngsters training at the centre at the time as well as staff members returned to their homes, although flight and other travel restrictions prevented everyone from doing so. There are currently eight players quarantined at the facility, two of which are Cameroon’s Lorie Lemongo and Marko Milosavljevic of Zimbabwe.

Throughout this period of isolation, the players residing at the ITF/CAT High Performance Tennis Centre in Casablanca will be providing the ITF with regular updates, videos and photographs from their time in quarantine. The first instalment is provided by Lorie and Marko.

It proved impossible for some of us to return to our home countries when the coronavirus outbreak in Morocco intensified, so there are currently eight of us here at the ITF/CAT High Performance Training Centre.

We have been in quarantine for the best part of three weeks now, although the most important thing is that we’re all safe and healthy.

In terms of the structure of the day, we deliberately try not to change our routine too much, and because the courts are closed and we are unable to play tennis, there has been a focus upon physical training.

Our fitness coaches send us a training plan which we complete during the day and includes challenges, such as how long each of us can hold a plank, while we’re also doing the sit challenge as we look to strengthen our leg and core muscles.

We have also been set various skipping rope challenges, including the double under drill which sees us attempt to swing the rope under our feet twice on each jump, resulting in a higher work capacity.

In terms of the whole day, we typically start our schoolwork at 8.30am, finishing at around 10 or 10.30am, before turning our attention towards the fitness work for up to two hours.

After lunch it’s back to the books and completing the school day, while at around 4pm we will do an injury prevention session. We’ll eat dinner towards 7.30pm and then it’s time for social games such as ping pong and mini tennis until around 10.30pm.

It was our director, Amine Ben Makhlouf, who brought us a net, some small rackets and sponge balls to play mini tennis and we’re getting a lot of enjoyment from that. He also brought us some board games, which the whole group plays.

There are occasions when we get a little bored, tired and the group is quiet – that’s only natural – but otherwise the atmosphere here is good. We talk and have got to know each other really well.

More than anything else, we are all having communal fun and that is so important at the present time. We are trying to be happy and, as far as is possible, not think too much about the implications of what is happening.

We’re certainly not coming to any harm. We’re working hard at our schoolwork, our fitness training and the challenges. We are also in regular touch with our families, so like the rest of the world, it’s just a case of making the best of the situation.

This is an unprecedented scenario and we’re not trying to guess what’s happening outside of the facility in Casablanca or further afield – we believe that’s for the best.

The advice we’ve been given is to focus on ourselves and our health and that’s exactly what we’re doing. As we have said, the atmosphere here is really good, especially considering the circumstances.

We will look forward to updating you with how we are maintaining our fitness levels and ensuring spirits are kept high in due course.

Stay safe everyone,

Lorie and Marko

Whether it is maintaining fitness or improving your game, the ITF can help during this time of imposed shutdown. The ITF is making more resources on its ITF Academy platform available for free.

Further information on what the ITF can offer is available here. You can register for the ITF Academy by clicking here.