Léolia Jeanjean, Diane Parry, Hugo Gaston, Corentin Moutet: these players gave hope to the French during the first rounds of the Roland-Garros tennis tournament. A short-lived hope since the second week of the Grand Slam tournament starts without them, Monday, May 30. Indeed, as in 2021, no Frenchman managed to qualify for the round of 16, when they were five in the third round.
>> Roland Garros: follow the matches of Monday May 30 in our live
The next generation seems to be slow in French tennis. Should we despair or can we be optimistic? “It’s always very complicated” to make a tennis champion, recognizes John McEnroe. The retired American champion, seven-time Grand Slam winner, believes it takes “have a larger pool of future champions”.
franceinfo: When you see the state of French tennis, with a generation retiring and another slow to emerge, are you worried about our country?
John McEnroe: You come out of a period when there were four guys in the Top 10: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Gaël Monfils and Gilles Simon. I thought one of them was going to win a few majors but I don’t think anyone realized how great they were. Right now, I don’t see much coming. I like watching Hugo Gaston and Corentin Moutet play because they are little guys playing against big guys. They have to try drop shots. It fits my mentality. I think it’s not the easiest time for tennis in France. A few days ago I was with an old friend of mine, you know, the one who won here in 1983, [Yannick Noah]. We have a bit of that in the United States because it’s been almost twenty years since a male player won. I know that the French love their tennis, they are very passionate. So it must be hard to live with.
Why is it so hard to craft a champion?
It’s always very difficult to do that. It’s not enough to say: here, let’s bring someone from the island of Mallorca [dont est originaire de Rafael Nadal] whereas it was a resort when I was playing. In my time, if you played against someone from Switzerland [le pays de Roger Federer], it was a good draw. Clearly, the game is faster than ever. It means you have to be better athletically because things are going faster. But at the end of the day, when you reach a certain level, you need the combination of several things. If it were that easy, more people would know how to do it. The key right now is to have more kids playing tennis to have a bigger pool of future champions. It’s the same in the United States. We need more tennis programs in schools. In my country right now the best athletes are playing American football and basketball.
You are the head of an academy in New York. Why this personal investment?
I feel like when I was growing up, I was given opportunities that most kids didn’t have to play this sport. I want to create a thriving tennis environment in New York, because the last player from that city that I remember is my brother. There have been very few players in this town and there are a lot of inner city kids who can’t afford to play. I’ve been doing this for a long time and my greatest happiness would be if some of the young boys or girls who are with me win the US Open, Roland-Garros or Wimbledon. I have been given a lot. So I want to try to give others a chance.
One of the obstacles to becoming a champion, in France as in the United States, is precisely money. The BNP Paribas bank with which you are associated, like six other academies in the world, gives scholarships to these young players. Is the financial aspect that important?
Unfortunately yes. Since I started playing, I noticed very quickly that it was too expensive for most people and it got worse. It is therefore even more important than ever to have the support of BNP Paribas and other partners. Without this, it would be very difficult to give these children a chance. A young player must be able to train and travel. In the United States, France and everywhere else, financial support is more important than ever.