Week 21 - French Open (Roland-Garros) - Paris, France (clay)

Neil Gee · Club Coach

Week 21 - French Open (Roland-Garros) - Paris, France (clay)

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

The conditions were terrible for Emmas game and Noskova played very well for the first two sets .

Blowing countless chances in the first set and being a break down twice in the second set and coming back to win shows a lot of resilience when most people thought she might fold .

Sasnovich in the second round is a very winnable match and their last meeting is irrelevant IMO .

Hopefully the conditions will be better on Wednesday .

Jajon · Club Coach

Raducanu winning first match at all four slams to join Seles and Serena andI cant see anyone else but Im sure theres a few others! Just thought it was nice bit of perspective in terms of her career!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Just for general info (and feel free to skip!) but the story of Léolia Jeanjean is a real biggie in France at the moment, and one I've mentioned before.

At the age of 9 to 13, she was touted as the most amazing talent the French federation had ever seen. Honestly, the whole organisation was in raptures. And not for nothing - she did have an amazing game for a youngster - a real vision of the court, and ability to hit any shot, tons of variation.... She played at Roland Garros at the age of 14. Had big money sponsors with Nike and Babolat etc. And could do no wrong.

BUT she had a very pushy (or protective?) father. At the very least, her father was a strong character from the South, from very humble origins, who wasn't liked, and was basically looked down on, by the Parisian lot.

And then she had a horrible injury (at the age of 13 or 14) which she says was largely the FFT's fault.

She tore a ligament in her knee. It wasn't correctly diagnosed, they thought it was a ligament pull but actually the ligament in her knee had snapped. So she played again after 2 weeks. She was told she wouldn't get financial aid if she didn't play the nationals so she did. And then she injured it again. Again, not properly diagnosed.

And she ended up with a triple dislocation of the patella.

The FFT dropped her, Nike and Babolat dropped here, she needed operations, 10 months of intensive rehab..... the family had financial problems.....she went from being the Next Great Thing to being injured, washed up and a 'nobody' - all at age 13-14. It was very hard for her.....

Net net, she stopped tennis completely for two years, had no money to play tennis even if she wanted to.

So decided at 18 to go to the States, did amazingly well in tennis, and did her studies on a full scholarship. Got a double degree, got a Masters. And she did it all in ultra quick time, staying for summer courses, to get extra credits, not coming back to France, so she could try tennis again, afterwards.

And in 2021 she decided to give pro tennis a go, with no coach because she couldn't afford one.

She tells a story of arriving at a 15k in Mexico, and her credit card not being accepted. So she said to them, I'll pay you at the end, promise, with my winnings cheque, and the manager taking pity, and she was 'right, Léo, now you've really got to play for your keep'. She didn't win but between the singles and doubles she managed to crank up just enough money to cover the costs.

And she gave herself two years to make Grand Slams.

She's now ranked 225.

Needless to say, the FFT want nothing to do with her.

BUT they have a scheme where you can win a wildcard into the MD at RG by coming top of the national circuit of events. i.e. the 60ks and 25ks and whatever all count towards an overall ranking, with the winner getting the WC.

And Léolia won - which will have irritated many.

AND today she won her first match, too, - in amazing style - against Parrizaz Diaz, ranked 45, in two sets.

I guess the bubble will burst but I wish her all the luck in the world

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Just for general info (and feel free to skip!) but the story of Léolia Jeanjean is a real biggie in France at the moment, and one I've mentioned before.

At the age of 9 to 13, she was touted as the most amazing talent the French federation had ever seen. Honestly, the whole organisation was in raptures. And not for nothing - she did have an amazing game for a youngster - a real vision of the court, and ability to hit any shot, tons of variation.... She played at Roland Garros at the age of 14. Had big money sponsors with Nike and Babolat etc. And could do no wrong.

BUT she had a very pushy (or protective?) father. At the very least, her father was a strong character from the South, from very humble origins, who wasn't liked, and was basically looked down on, by the Parisian lot.

And then she had a horrible injury (at the age of 13 or 14) which she says was largely the FFT's fault.

She tore a ligament in her knee. It wasn't correctly diagnosed, they thought it was a ligament pull but actually the ligament in her knee had snapped. So she played again after 2 weeks. She was told she wouldn't get financial aid if she didn't play the nationals so she did. And then she injured it again. Again, not properly diagnosed.

And she ended up with a triple dislocation of the patella.

The FFT dropped her, Nike and Babolat dropped here, she needed operations, 10 months of intensive rehab..... the family had financial problems.....she went from being the Next Great Thing to being injured, washed up and a 'nobody' - all at age 13-14. It was very hard for her.....

Net net, she stopped tennis completely for two years, had no money to play tennis even if she wanted to.

So decided at 18 to go to the States, did amazingly well in tennis, and did her studies on a full scholarship. Got a double degree, got a Masters. And she did it all in ultra quick time, staying for summer courses, to get extra credits, not coming back to France, so she could try tennis again, afterwards.

And in 2021 she decided to give pro tennis a go, with no coach because she couldn't afford one.

She tells a story of arriving at a 15k in Mexico, and her credit card not being accepted. So she said to them, I'll pay you at the end, promise, with my winnings cheque, and the manager taking pity, and she was 'right, Léo, now you've really got to play for your keep'. She didn't win but between the singles and doubles she managed to crank up just enough money to cover the costs.

And she gave herself two years to make Grand Slams.

She's now ranked 225.

Needless to say, the FFT want nothing to do with her.

BUT they have a scheme where you can win a wildcard into the MD at RG by coming top of the national circuit of events. i.e. the 60ks and 25ks and whatever all count towards an overall ranking, with the winner getting the WC.

And Léolia won - which will have irritated many.

AND today she won her first match, too, - in amazing style - against Parrizaz Diaz, ranked 45, in two sets.

I guess the bubble will burst but I wish her all the luck in the world

Great story CD, thanks for this - i have never heard of her but will certainly look out now!

Shhh · Challenger level

That is a great story Coup, thanks

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

I am also a big fan of their Destination RG circuit points. We should do similar. We could have had points joining the ITF 25 events played in Jan to May, for Wimbledon that is. Doesnt matter they arent on grass, we could have had the GB player who is highest in the points tally getting a main draw wildcard and the runner up a qualifying spot. And we could have allocated spots to international play, say the top points scorers on atp and wta over all events a la the Race, highest not already qualified gets in.

Would make it so much more interesting, give a narrative to the events, and provide loyalty.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Thanks so much for telling Leolias astonishing story CD, I too had not heard of her.

Tennpar · Strong Club Player

Thanks CD, love your narratives from across the water which add colour to the tournaments smile

wales1994 · County player

Coup Droit wrote:
Just for general info (and feel free to skip!) but the story of Léolia Jeanjean is a real biggie in France at the moment, and one I've mentioned before.

At the age of 9 to 13, she was touted as the most amazing talent the French federation had ever seen. Honestly, the whole organisation was in raptures. And not for nothing - she did have an amazing game for a youngster - a real vision of the court, and ability to hit any shot, tons of variation.... She played at Roland Garros at the age of 14. Had big money sponsors with Nike and Babolat etc. And could do no wrong.

BUT she had a very pushy (or protective?) father. At the very least, her father was a strong character from the South, from very humble origins, who wasn't liked, and was basically looked down on, by the Parisian lot.

And then she had a horrible injury (at the age of 13 or 14) which she says was largely the FFT's fault.

She tore a ligament in her knee. It wasn't correctly diagnosed, they thought it was a ligament pull but actually the ligament in her knee had snapped. So she played again after 2 weeks. She was told she wouldn't get financial aid if she didn't play the nationals so she did. And then she injured it again. Again, not properly diagnosed.

And she ended up with a triple dislocation of the patella.

The FFT dropped her, Nike and Babolat dropped here, she needed operations, 10 months of intensive rehab..... the family had financial problems.....she went from being the Next Great Thing to being injured, washed up and a 'nobody' - all at age 13-14. It was very hard for her.....

Net net, she stopped tennis completely for two years, had no money to play tennis even if she wanted to.

So decided at 18 to go to the States, did amazingly well in tennis, and did her studies on a full scholarship. Got a double degree, got a Masters. And she did it all in ultra quick time, staying for summer courses, to get extra credits, not coming back to France, so she could try tennis again, afterwards.

And in 2021 she decided to give pro tennis a go, with no coach because she couldn't afford one.

She tells a story of arriving at a 15k in Mexico, and her credit card not being accepted. So she said to them, I'll pay you at the end, promise, with my winnings cheque, and the manager taking pity, and she was 'right, Léo, now you've really got to play for your keep'. She didn't win but between the singles and doubles she managed to crank up just enough money to cover the costs.

And she gave herself two years to make Grand Slams.

She's now ranked 225.

Needless to say, the FFT want nothing to do with her.

BUT they have a scheme where you can win a wildcard into the MD at RG by coming top of the national circuit of events. i.e. the 60ks and 25ks and whatever all count towards an overall ranking, with the winner getting the WC.

And Léolia won - which will have irritated many.

AND today she won her first match, too, - in amazing style - against Parrizaz Diaz, ranked 45, in two sets.

I guess the bubble will burst but I wish her all the luck in the world

Such an interesting insight, thanks for sharing. Hope she can build on this over the coming months, the RG pay cheque will definitely help!

GAMEOVER · Satellite level

Harriet may have suffered a heavy defeat in her first round match but still collected a £52, 600 pay cheque. according to the Telegraph.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

GAMEOVER wrote:
Harriet may have suffered a heavy defeat in her first round match but still collected a £52, 600 pay cheque. according to the Telegraph.

circa £4k per game played, and she will get a similar pay at Wimbledon. Keep her going for another year!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Loving watching Tessah A taking on Pliskova

Tessah Andrianjafitrimo is France's Jodie Burrage, in my view

Very similar age, both lovely athletic players, who have a good thump on the forehand, good at the net

BUT often both lack lucidity, get SO tight, can't control their emotions etc. etc.

However, at the moment, Tessah is doing a great job - has taken the first set 6-2 - Plisokva looks like Bambi on ice, as she always does on clay - Tessah chipping and chopping and then whacking a forehand....

BUT Pliskova must begin to play better, surely - her serve has been diabolical....

NB For the story lovers, Tessah has a bit of one too, although not quite so dramatic as Léolia's

Her parents are Madagascan. And her dad was Madagascan tennis champion. And also African tennis champion (not quite sure what that involved, at the time)

Anyway, financial constraints meant he had no chance of trying to go pro. So he moved to France and became a club coach. And coached Tessah. And also fell out with the LTA (there's a theme here). And basically said, no worries, I'll coach her myself. And has done pretty well....

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Loving watching Tessah A taking on Pliskova

Tessah Andrianjafitrimo is France's Jodie Burrage, in my view

Very similar age, both lovely athletic players, who have a good thump on the forehand, good at the net

BUT often both lack lucidity, get SO tight, can't control their emotions etc. etc.

However, at the moment, Tessah is doing a great job - has taken the first set 6-2 - Plisokva looks like Bambi on ice, as she always does on clay - Tessah chipping and chopping and then whacking a forehand....

BUT Pliskova must begin to play better, surely - her serve has been diabolical....

NB For the story lovers, Tessah has a bit of one too, although not quite so dramatic as Léolia's

Her parents are Madagascan. And her dad was Madagascan tennis champion. And also African tennis champion (not quite sure what that involved, at the time)

Anyway, financial constraints meant he had no chance of trying to go pro. So he moved to France and became a club coach. And coached Tessah. And also fell out with the LTA (there's a theme here). And basically said, no worries, I'll coach her myself. And has done pretty well....

If Tessah and Leolia play in the next round there would a) be not a dry eye in the house and b) the French Federation would be livid!!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

TO be honest, Tessah and the FFT are OK now, I think. And she's not a sob story.
Again, I'm afraid, it's partly the fact that they're from the south (probably way more important than the Madagscan bit).
But they gave her a wildcard and I don't think there's a big issue now
At least, not like Léolia - who gave quite a guarded interview - BUT made it quite clear that she had not forgotten or forgiven.