French player Edouard Roger-Vasselin goes through a warm-up drill with his physical trainer Vincent Lamaque ahead of the second round match against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia at the Chennai Open on Wednesday.

Players usually warm-up in the locker room, but Lamaque's unique exercise on the road leading to the player area attracted quite a few on-lookers.

Apart from making Roger-Vasselin run around the plastic cones, the trainer, standing about three feet away, dropped tennis balls and made the Frenchman catch them on one bounce.

"It also helps in developing speed and makes the player sharper," Lamaque said.

He trains a group of seven French players for three months and travels at some tournaments. With the game getting more physical, he said that players had to concentrate more on their rest, massages and pre-match routines to avoid injuries.

Photograph: Deepti Patwardhan