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Amélie Mauresmo new tournament director: “Make Roland-Garros the favorite tournament for players”

This is an important moment. We have for the first time a woman director of Roland-Garros. “Amélie Oudéa-Castera, general manager of the French Tennis Federation, did not fail to underline it. By naming another Amélie, Mauresmo, at the head of Roland-Garros for”at least the next three years“, the Parisian Grand Slam operated a small revolution. Even if for the new patron of the tournament, it must remain anecdotal.”Yes, it is a source of pride, but I also hope that there are skills and know-how that I can bring, she clarified. I hope that this question no longer arises.”

More than a woman, it is a great character of French tennis that Gilles Moretton, the president of the FFT, wanted to install at the head of the jewel of the Porte d’Auteuil. Double Grand Slam winner, former world number one, Amélie Mauresmo has left her mark on French tennis, like no other player since Yannick Noah. When it was time to turn the page Guy Forget, the choice of Mauresmo was therefore quite quickly obvious. “She is a woman of character, who likes to challenge and be challenged. She has charisma and she embodies the demands of a tournament like Roland-Garros“, pleaded Moretton Thursday during the press conference for the induction of the new director.

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We played cat on the switchboard, not in a playground

The person did not hesitate too long. “I didn’t really have a long reflexion “, she explains, even if she wanted to obtain guarantees on her prerogatives.”I had questions that seemed to me to be crucial about my function, about its broader aspect compared to what one might think of the role of a former player, what she can bring in terms of representation. But I also wanted to be a force of proposal beyond the sporting part. I’m more like that, I immediately ask the questions to which I want to have very precise answers. It was immediately well received and even requested. We were aligned, not on 100% of the things of course, but on the overall project. So the thinking was pretty quick.”

Then there is a strong, almost carnal bond between Amélie Mauresmo and Roland-Garros. From adolescence, Roland was his home. “We played cat on the switchboard, not in a playground, smiles the former Eurosport consultant. My first teenage bullshit, I did it inside the stadium. Somehow, I’ve always been around this tournament. For better or for worse as a player, then as a coach, over time and my different activities, I had a vision of things that I wanted to see evolve, or fabulous things but that ‘we could push a little further. I don’t know if many people have experienced Roland-Garros in all these facets.”

However, she ensures that she has not scheduled her arrival at the head of Roland-Garros for a long time. “I’ve never had a career plan since I stopped playing, she says. I have always worked on opportunities, on what spoke to me, the challenge that could represent. Being a tournament director was neither a wish nor a thought. “In this area, her experience is limited to a position of co-director of the Open GDF Suez.” I know that has nothing to do with it. with this big machine that is Roland“, she concedes.

Amelie Mauresmo at Roland Garros

Credit: Getty Images

I have a lot to learn

When she spoke for the first time, she took care to display her “humility“and to spare his predecessor.”There will be a form of continuity with the fabulous work done by Guy (Forget) and his teams for so many years. I have a lot of things to learn, I don’t know the inner workings of such an event, I will learn them on the job.”

On the other hand, Amélie Mauresmo already seems to have a fairly clear idea of ​​her vision for the tournament. As for precise measurements, she says she needs “to join the steering committee, to take charge of the files“. To get her hands dirty in short. But she has desires and ambitions.

On programming, welcoming players, partners, the media, I have ideas, she insists. I want us to make Roland-Garros a united and responsible event. On the environment, we can go even further. Then there are small details, the ceremonies, the interviews on the court, lots of things that we will dig but which immediately come to mind.”

His dream ? “Make Roland-Garros the favorite tournament for players, whether we are the darling. (…) We may not have the same advantages in terms of space as other Grand Slam tournaments. There are things we cannot compete on. But on the reception, we can. We will put even more emphasis on this point. For the players, their entourage“, promises the new boss. Before guaranteeing:”I will live up to the trust given to me.”

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