Italian tennis youngsters happy to hit the roof during COVID-19 outbreak

Rome: Tennis players, like athletes everywhere, are finding inventive ways to train with courts closed and contact banned, but two youngsters in Italy have taken it to a higher level: the roof. | Vittoria Oliveri adjusts her sneakers before playing tennis with Carola Pessina on the rooftops of their house in Finale Ligure, Italy.

When the tennis club in Finale Ligure, a small town in northern Italy, closed at the beginning of March, as part of Italy's fight against the coronavirus pandemic, its coaches challenged their young players to find inventive ways to keep training and to film themselves doing it. | Carola Pessina (foreground) plays tennis with Vittoria Oliveri on the rooftops of their house.

The result is a series of videos posted on the Tennisclub Finale Facebook page. | Vittoria Oliveri leaves her appartment to play tennis with Carola Pessina on the rooftops of their house.

They showed youngsters practising their strokes with or without rackets or, in one case, with a long handled broom. | Father of Vittoria Oliveri (unseen), wearing a face mask, collects tennis balls in the courtyard as his daughter and a friend practice tennis on the rooftops of their house.

Several show players hitting balls against walls in the street or in parking lots or even in their bedroom or the family living room, with the wide-screen television positioned ominously close to the apex of the forehand swing. | Vittoria Oliveri arrives on the rooftop.

The videos resembled many others being posted on social media under the #tennisathome hashtag, but one stood out, catching the attention of the ATP and tennis players and fans around the world. | Carola Pessina (R) plays tennis with Vittoria Oliveri (unseen).

Vittoria, 14, and Carola, 11, climbed onto the rooftop terraces of their buildings, which face each other across the street.

There they lofted shots over the guard rails and the road, running round not only their backhands but also boiler vents as the ball bounced, not on the clay they are used to but on concrete slabs.

"It was their idea. They know each other well, they're friends and they live in neighbouring buildings," their coach Dionisio Poggi, told AFP.

"They are not the same age, so they don't train in the same group and don't play in the same category. But they are both strong and play competitively," the coach said.

"Carola, who is 11, is in the top two or three in the region in her age group." | Carola Pessina practices tennis in the staircase.

Tracy Austin, a former world number one who built her game on hitting long, retweeted the video. | Vittoria Oliveri plays tennis with Carola (unseen) on rooftops.

"This is next level #TennisAtHome! I don't think this can be topped. Keep the ball deep." Men's world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas was also impressed. | Vittoria Oliveri holds a fishing rod with fallen tennis balls, collected by her father in the courtyard of their house.

"Really nice to see," tweeted the Greek star. Vittoria and Carola are enjoying the attention. "The girls saw that it was getting bigger. They're overjoyed," said coach concluded.