The Grand Prix S.A.R. La Princesse Lalla Meryem is Morocco’s leading women’s tennis tournament, the only African stop on the WTA’s international circuit and part of the King Mohammed VI International Tennis Circuit. This coverage was shot at the 2017 edition, the tournament’s 17th, held April 29 to May 6 at the Union Sportive des Cheminots courts in Rabat, with 230,000 dollars in prize money and 32 of the world’s top players competing in singles and doubles as the clay-court season opened ahead of Roland Garros. The coverage began before the gates opened, with the empty stadium photographed at dawn, rows of empty seats and the clay court freshly rolled, before players, staff or fans arrived. From there the story moved courtside, following the ball kids stationed at the net and baseline, and closing on the baskets of tennis balls staged courtside, restocked between sets.
