“The year 2023 was positive for the French clan”, argues Arnaud Clément

With the defeat of Ugo Humbert in the round of 32, Wednesday November 1, there are no longer any French people entered in the Masters 1000 at Paris Bercy. After 2018, this is the worst French performance at the Paris tournament. A lackluster tournament for the French clan, which sounds like the end of a lackluster season, marked by mediocre performances in the Grand Slam (only one qualification in the second week: Caroline Garcia in the round of 16 of the Open d ‘Australia). Arnaud Clément, former world Top 10 and consultant for franceinfo: sport, however remains optimistic at the end of 2023.

Franceinfo: sport: Out of eight French people entered in the main draw, none qualified for the third round. Is this a disappointment or are these results representative of the current French level?

Arnaud Clément: It’s obviously a little disappointing. Compared to recent results, we hoped to see some good performances, in particular with Ugo Humbert who has been very consistent for several weeks or with Adrian Mannarino also, who was in very good form. For Gaël Monfils and Richard Gasquet, as for Ugo, there was not much missing to change the match. As for Luca Van Assche and Arthur Fils, who played their first and second Bercy respectively, it’s a good experience.

The French are certainly eliminated, but the tournament continues. Which favorite do you see for the title?

Even if it is still a little early to say, Novak Djokovic is the favorite for the title. Especially with the early elimination of Carlos Alcaraz. Every time he enters a tournament, Djokovic is the favorite because we know he performs well. And then, he comes back after a month and a half of absence, we have absolutely no doubt that he will be competitive straight away. We had another demonstration on his first lap on Wednesday.

We are arriving at the end of the year, what is your 2023 assessment for the French?

The year 2023 was a positive year for the French clan, even if it could have been a little better. But we also have to give certain players time to grow. Our young players, like Arthur Fils and Luca Van Assche, have already progressed a lot over the year, and they will continue.

What I also liked this year is this newfound dynamic, with players who have entered the Top 50, with titles, like that of Gaël Monfils in Stockholm, who was returning from injury, or Adrian Mannarino ( Astana and Newport). At 35, I find it quite extraordinary. They are among the elders but perhaps they unconsciously take advantage of this push from young people to surpass themselves again. Having multiple competitive players leads to a positive dynamic. I am also thinking of Ugo Humbert, who beat two Top 10s in two consecutive tournaments in October, who is returning to his best level, even his best tennis.

I think that 2024 will be the year of confirmation, a better season which can allow French tennis to regain the rank it has lost, that is to say to play an important role in the Grand Slam tournaments. There was still a bit of a lack of consistency in the Grand Slam tournaments, but we saw tournament victories, with players capable of “matching” against Top 10s in the best of three sets.

On the women’s side, after a great year in 2022, Caroline Garcia struggled this year to maintain her rank. How do you analyze his year?

Caroline feels this desire to play this hyper-offensive tennis which requires perfect settings, with her confidence at her peak to be able to play in this way in key moments of matches. She lost that confidence a little. His game hasn’t completely taken off, but his balls, instead of being on the line, are just off the line or staying in the net strip. She would have to manage, in these moments, to take a little less risks, to hit less hard but obviously she does not want to change her game. She has decided to play all the time with this very offensive option. After losing success, she has found some regularity recently.

She was also eagerly awaited this year, which perhaps also put additional pressure on her. She also became a target for her adversaries, who undoubtedly worked at the tactical level to successfully counter her.