{"id":197761,"date":"2025-04-28T10:26:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T08:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?p=197761"},"modified":"2025-04-29T15:06:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T13:06:44","slug":"paul-henri-mathieu-voyages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/paul-henri-mathieu-voyages","title":{"rendered":"Paul-Henri Mathieu: \"Travel fatigue is something you feel at the end of your career\"."},"content":{"rendered":"

How does a professional tennis player organise his travel? Is the way new generations travel the same as yours? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Paul-Henri Matthieu - <\/strong>Players now travel in the same way as we used to, flying almost every week, organising their own travel. In the early days, I tried to use Air France as often as possible, as I was a member of the frequent flyer programme, and I had a contact at the airline. It was always the same person I called to book my flights. Then, with the boom in online bookings<\/strong>I used to take them directly online. This fits in well with the players' need for reactivity. When you lose a tournament, most of the time you want to be able to leave the same day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that you can move on quickly, once the disappointment has passed? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

P.-H. M. - <\/strong>No. Simply because we have another tournament the following week and we want to get there. as soon as possible <\/strong>to prepare for it. Or, if we don't have a tournament planned, to get home as quickly as possible. As the players don't get the chance to be at home, leaving straight away gives them the chance to take a day or two off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When travelling, what class of travel do you prefer? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

P.-H. M. -<\/strong> In Europe, on small flights, I booked in class economic<\/strong>. There's no difference between business and economy when it comes to recovery. On the other hand, for long flights between Europe and the United States or Australia, I travelled by business<\/strong> like the vast majority of players. Not at the start of their career, because it represents a certain budget, with players paying for their own travel. But when you start to get established on the circuit and have some money coming in, it's an investment that most players make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recuperation, jet lag: how do you manage these travel hazards, which also affect many business travellers?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

P.-H. M. - <\/strong>To respect the number of hours of recovery and sleep, the flight schedule is important. I was trying not to take flights too early in the morning or very late at night<\/strong>that start your night. As it is generally said that it takes a day to absorb an hour's time difference, players try to leave for the right number of days depending on the tournament venue to acclimatise as naturally as possible. In Australia, we leave at least a week beforehand, sometimes even more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(c) Wikimedia commons - Carine06<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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(c) DR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Australia at the start of the year, then the United States, then Europe, then America or Asia again: are these moments of switching between tournaments and time zones difficult to manage? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

P.-H. M. - <\/strong>It's not easy. One thing's for sure, it's easier to adapt when you're young! Jet lag, even if you don't realise it, is a real problem. physically and psychologically exhausting<\/strong>. Even if you're used to it, at some point it inevitably catches up with you. In general, players try to take this into account in their schedules, by not playing tournaments every week and by giving themselves time to recover. This explains why so many players now live in Dubai, halfway between all the continents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For its geographical location and excellent air links, or rather for the tax advantages offered by the emirate? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

P.-H. M. - <\/strong>Let's face it, that's one of the reasons. But Dubai is also, and above all, very well located. The weather is fine all year round. So players can train outside<\/strong>This is particularly true in December, the only break when the players can be at home and start preparing for the Australian Open, which is played outdoors. For my part, during the annual break, I regularly go to a destination that I love very much, Mauritius, for a ten-day holiday in one of the Beachcomber group's hotels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let's go back to your travels. Depending on whether you're number one on the ATP or number 100, do the companies and hotels have a different way of welcoming you?\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

P.-H. M. - <\/strong>If it's Djokovic who's travelling, the plane crew will obviously pay more attention to him than to a lesser-known player. As for the hotel, the best players of the tournament will be accommodated in the higher categories<\/strong>The others have the right to a more traditional room. Nothing illogical or surprising, it's just the way things are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way as for flights, did you book your own hotels? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

P.-H. M. -<\/strong> Hotels are a different matter. Tournaments often have their own official host<\/strong>The room is paid for by the organisation. In any case, it's the player's room, not the ones that can be taken in addition for the coach or physio. In general, everything is managed by someone from the tournament who acts as a link between the hotel and the players. However, as I'm very sensitive to outside noise, as soon as I found a quiet room, I made a note of it so that I could ask for the same room the following year. It's a little thing that many of the players do, by the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n