The Loiret Open Paratennis celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year. The tennis tournament with disabled athletes began this Thursday and will last until Sunday at the Foret complex in Saran.
Forty-eight athletes are participating this year, with beautiful names for the twenty years: note in particular the presence of nine athletes who participated in the last Tokyo Paralympic Games at the end of the summer, as well as that of a former para-Olympic gold medalist in Rio in 2016, the German Jiske Griffieon.
French chances of victory
Among the French in the race, there is Pauline Déroulède (47th world) or Frédéric Cattanéo, current world number 19. For this anniversary edition, is there a chance to see one or more French winners? Yes, says tournament director Stéphane Goudou: “for the boys, the French have a good chance of winning the tournament, because we are seeded 1 and 2 [Cattanéo et Laget], but we are immune to anything in a tennis match. Among women, Pauline Déroulède has a small chance of a medal, even if the level is still very high with the presence of world numbers 9 and 13, and that it may be a bit early for her “.
Entrance is free for this open paratennis du Loiret (health pass compulsory), at 310 alley on the edge of the forest, in Saran. The doubles final will take place on Saturday afternoon, and the individual tournament finals on Sunday morning.