Amelie Mauresmo Since the beginning of December, it has taken on a completely new role and continues its history with Roland-Garros: she is the first female director of the Parisian tournament. After having often criticized the programming and submitted ideas on social networks, it is time to take action. She had first of all to renovate the filling system of boxes a few weeks ago. During the press conference at Roland-Garros, she announced that she had made the decision to establish a super tie-break at 6-6 in the fifth set. She also mentioned French players as well as Russians and Belarusians.
Mauresmo and the super tie-break at Roland-Garros and in GC!
“The idea is to have consistency”
For many years, the lack of uniformity of Grand Slam tournaments was strongly criticized, this time it’s over, the Grand Slams have chosen and Amelie Mauresmo explained this choice: “The idea is to have consistency with the other three grand slam tournaments. Quite honestly, for having moved as a player, coach, there was no visibility. We could end up with a player in Australia who raises her arms when reaching 7 in the tie-break because she forgot that you have to go to 10. The opposite at Roland Garros with someone who is preparing to play a tie-break then that these are the advantages. I think it is a good step forward, in terms of recovery also it is important. It is one of my concerns”.
“Respect tradition and display a strong ambition to anchor the tournament in modernity” #RolandGarros
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) March 16, 2022
“It’s better if the French perform”
The former world number one returned to the importance of the performances of French players at Roland-Garros: “It’s one of the drivers of the tournament. Every time a Frenchman goes far, there is immediate enthusiasm from the French. We have Gaël Monfils who has just beaten the world number one, so there are expectations of the public. We now have a generation that is a little in between, I put aside Gaël who remains very competitive. On the sporting level obviously it is much better for the tournament. It is not necessarily something that the ‘we control in the organization, but it’s better if the French perform “.
“Russian and Belarusian players will be accepted”
Another aspect is difficult to manage, the war in Ukraine. On this point, Mauresmo is quite clear: “I can talk about what is happening today (March 16). Today all national teams, Russians and Belarusians, are excluded from competitions. But from the moment we are an individual sport, it’s not a national team, there is no anthem, no flags, not even the initials RUS and BLR, for the moment we are holding our position: Russian and Belarusian players will be accepted. We are monitoring the situation very closely, because we know that it can change quickly.”
