Four decades later, the ‘Petits As’ continues to bring together the promises of tennis

As if it were the ATP circuit, Moïse Kouamé chains selfies and interviews after his match at the ‘Petits As’ (Little Champions) tournament in Tarbes (south of France), which for 40 years has been a major event for the big leagues promises of tennis

The stands were full on Wednesday of this week to attend the game of Kouamé, one of the great French hopes, against a Bulgarian rival. The home crowd did not disappoint: the 13-year-old Frenchman won in straight sets to the delight of fans who were almost his age. After the victory, he showed surprising maturity in his statements to journalists.

“It’s not just another tournament because off the court it has an incredible atmosphere. It’s like a Grand Slam for children,” he says. “But as soon as I enter the court, it’s like training. Although great champions have passed through here, like (Rafa) Nadal or (Richard) Gasquet, I don’t get overwhelmed,” he says.

The first edition of this tournament took place in 1983 and over time it has become a kind of ‘unofficial world championship’ for many 12-14 year old tennis players. Its relevance is underlined by reviewing some names in his record.

American Michael Chang won it in 1986, just three years before setting a precocity record with his title at Roland Garros in 1989 – aged 17 – and another Roland Garros champion, Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero, lifted the trophy in 1994 by beating Chilean Fernando González in the final.

The Swiss Martina Hingis chained two titles in Tarbes, in 1991 and 1992, which made her gain international notoriety before dazzling in the absolute category.

– Federer, Nadal, Djokovic… –

In the year 2000, a young Nadal was the champion and it is true that since then the winners in the men’s category have not been among the best in their jump to adult tennis.

Something more important has been the balance between women in this 21st century, with two players who later won Grand Slam tournaments: the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (winner at Tarbes in 2011 and then at Roland Garros in 2017) and the Canadian Bianca Andreescu ( winner in Tarbes in 2014 and who lifted the US Open trophy in 2019).

With 47 countries represented in this year’s edition -a record- and a budget of more than one million euros (1.09 million dollars), the ‘Petits As’ continue to be, together with the ‘Orange Bowl’ of United States, a world reference for the rough diamonds of the racket.

“You can find youth tournaments of a similar level in the United States, but none have such a professional environment, with transportation for everyone, meals in restaurants…”, says the Ecuadorian coach Juan José Naranjo.

“Some young people believe that they will not become professionals if they do not win here,” he adds. “But many youngsters, like (Carlos) Alcaraz (current world number one) or (Andrey) Rublev (number six) didn’t make it past the first rounds here,” he recalls.

Novak Djokovic, for example, fell in the quarterfinals in the 2001 edition and Roger Federer fell in the round of 16 in 1995, in the anonymity of the modest court number two.

Nobody could have thought then that those names were going to mark the history of tennis, as some of the young talents hitting the ball this week on this indoor French court, very close to the Pyrenees, might be able to do in the medium or long term.

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AFP