After qualifying Monday in the very first match of her career in a Grand Slam tournament, Stade Toulousain tennis club licensee Léolia Jeanjean, 227th player in the worldwill try to extend his dream this Thursday in the second round of Roland Garros against the Czech Karolina Pliskovaseeded number 8.
Léolia Jeanjean received an invitation to participate in Roland-Garros this year. In the first round on Monday, the 26-year-old easily won against Spaniard Nuria Parrizas-Dias, 45th in the world, in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. The native of Montpellier had to leave the tennis courts for almost ten years following an injury.
An incredible comeback
As a child, Léolia Jeanjean was a great hope for French tennis. But at fourteen, she seriously injured her knee and the level does not return. “When I resumed, it’s quite complicated. So my parents told me that it’s probably better that I go to study.” At 18, therefore, heading for Florida. Six years to graduate in finance. Then, in September 2020, she sets herself a crazy challenge: to return to France, to return to the courts. “The hardest part was getting back to the physical part. I had nevertheless gained a lot of weight in the United States. Then I didn’t train a lot.”
The circle will be complete when I have really achieved the goals I always had when I was young.
For fifteen months, Léolia Jeanjean tinkers. Two months of odd jobs, a week of tournaments. She finds her tennis faster than expected, wins her invitation through the back door to Roland-Garros. And now she wins her first round. So today, the Stade Toulousain tennis licensee is dreaming big, very big. “The circle will come full circle when I’ve done all four Grand Slams and really achieved the goals I always had when I was young.”
Whatever the outcome of her match this Thursday, Léolia Jeanjean has already won everything. She who was still living yesterday with the RSA will leave the Porte d’Auteuil with at least 86,000 euros in her pocket. Enough to finance an entire season.