The new leaders of the FFT have assumed the poor results of the French at Roland Garros and are looking for solutions to put in place. Even if the work will be very long.
How to save French tennis? This was inevitably the theme of the press conference organized on Friday, the day after a day which saw the last French hopes halted earlier than ever, from the 2nde Roland-Garros tower. For a historical snub.
The new president of the FFT, Gilles Moretton, therefore presented himself in the company of his team (Nicolas Escudé, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Amélie Oudéa-Castera) to carry out this “An observation which does not please, but which is not a surprise”, that of the very poor results of the Tricolores at Roland Garros. “It is not only this year that we are talking about”, observes Moretton, who evokes “Dysfunctions in training”. “That’s probably why we were elected, why my profile as a former player was selected”, he explains.
Even though he is now on the front line, having beaten Bernard Giudicelli in the last election, Moretton has been in office for too short a time to be held to account. “We’ve only been here for a little over three months. There was a goal, this Roland-Garros, that we were forced to undergo. And that turned into disaster. “The results are not good, he admits. There is a generation shift, with an exceptional generation that has had results, we must salute them. In terms of succession, taking up the torch, it’s complicated. We have very good young people, not yet mature to perform in a big Grand Slam table. “
French tennis is therefore looking to take over from the Tsonga-Gasquet-Monfils, knowing that the first two nominated have confided that they wanted to get involved in the transmission, which may have been lacking in their debut. “I feel enormous energy, rejoices Moretton. We have a lot to learn from all these players, they want to help the Federation. The fact that these players show the will to come and help us, I find that fabulous. There are others, there are lots of talents around us. We are all aware that we have to be united. Maybe we’ve been a bit scattered so far. Now you have to put each person in front of the right project. “
Gasquet-Tsonga-Monfils, the generation we laughed at too much? https://t.co/yf3VTZb7En
– Sports.fr (@sports_fr) June 4, 2021
And it is up to Nicolas Escudé to define a longer-term policy. The acting DTN promised “A change of course in sports policy”. “Before we were on a very early selection especially focused on the result, we will have to reframe things. We are more in the training, on the progression ”, he explains. “My role at the DTN is to train as many players as possible, to find the one who will find the Grail,” Escudé explains. It is a job that will take a very long time. “
The “Scud” leans especially the relief. “The Juniors, it’s the tournament that will interest me”, he explains, before highlighting the good results of the French in recent years in this age category (Mayot and Cazaux in the final of the Australian Open, Parry, Burel and Jacquemot n ° 1 in the world) . Because it is the role of the Federation to take care of the players from an early age. Then, it is no longer his responsibility. “Only one player who was in the table trains at the FFT (Corentin Moutet), recalls Escudé. The rest are private structures. “ And therefore more in the bosom of the Federation, even if the latter wants to keep contact with the Academies (All In in Lyon, Mouratoglou in the South).
For the FFT, it is therefore a long-term job that promises to be, because training a player takes time. “For a player like Elsa Jacquemot, the work was done 10 years ago, in a club, in a league. “ For the young Lyonnaise, as for the Mladenovic, Garcia, Pouille and Gasquet who preceded her, there is therefore still the main step to be taken, that of concretizing among the “big ones”. And for that, there is “No miracle recipe”, according to Moretton. We had noticed it.
Absolute nothingness: Why this Roland Garros is really catastrophic https://t.co/hvts6psOv2
– Sports.fr (@sports_fr) June 4, 2021
