A first set snatched, a second easier. In two sets (7-6 / 6-3), Gabriel Debru won the Roland-Garros junior singles tournament on Saturday against the Belgian Gilles-Arnaud Bailly. At 16, he succeeded his compatriot Luca Van Assche, and other big names in French tennis like Gaël Monfils, Richard Gasquet, Paul-Henri Mathieu or even Fabrice Santoro.
A resounding victory that the pride of his former club, Grenoble Tennis. Last September, he joined the training center of the French Tennis Federation in Paris. But this Saturday, in the stands, they were several, from his relatives or from the Grenoble club to have made the trip. Others have followed his achievement from the club lounge. Retained in Grenoble, Sagar Mittal exulted on the last point of his former partner on the court: “We knew he had the level, but it’s always nice to see him win. Because he deserves it, he worked very hard. It’s amazing, a very _very proud_I am moved !“
A model for the youngest at the club
In the front row, some young players from the club. Edouard, 15, and Timéo, 14, already see Gabriel Debru as an example to follow : “It’s really nice to see a child of the club win Roland-Garros like that, it’s impressive, to see him now on TV”, savors Timéo … This is our model!“. It’s amazing to see that someone who comes from GT can win the junior tournament! It makes us want to look like him, but above all we think it’s possiblethat someone from here can win”, adds Edouard.
This effect on the youngest, coach Louis Conchon is very satisfied: “It is necessarily an example, to win a junior grand slam like that at 16, all young people hope to play this level, to reach it one day. For today’s youth it allows you to have an idol in the club to be able to train well, to work, to be able to achieve their goals“. For him, the feat of his former player is not so much a surprise: “We knew that he had very great qualities. What struck me the most, from the first sessions, it is _his competitive spirit_. To want to win at all costs, all the points, all the sets,… and that from an early age“.
– Bastien Roque
For Guillaume de Choudens, the effect is reinforced by the very endearing personality by Gabriel Debru: “He is a player who comes back regularly, who plays with everyone, with all the children of the tennis school, like his former partners. _He is very available_he lives the club, like all the members and all the children of the club“. Pinned in the entrance hall, the official poster for this Roland Garros 2022, now a collector’s item for the club, is likely to remain in place for some time.