Jérémy Chardy, call him sir

A player on the circuit in charge of a professional tournament? A curiosity in the very self-centered world of the little yellow ball. No exception, however. The Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez became in 2019 the boss of the Masters 1000 in Madrid and at the end of his career the German Tommy Haas took control of that of Indian Wells. Director for the second year of the most modest Teréga Open Pau-Pyrénées, Challenge tour event (Second division of the ATP circuit), disputed this week at the Palais des Sports, Jérémy Chardy, Palois by birth explains the meaning of his approach: "J always wanted to do something for my sport and my city. Tennis, in my region, is a little like everywhere losing momentum. To motivate people to play and return to this sport, we must offer them dreams and high-level meetings. Not everyone has the budget to go to Roland-Garros or Bercy. With the new reform of the Davis Cup, Pau will have less opportunity to organize meetings, and that's what was magic, because people could see the best at home. I want to see more young people from the region play. On the sidelines of the tournament, we organize an 8-10 year old tournament with the final which is played just before that of the men's singles. We had 190 children last year. There are 300 participants there, and that makes me proud. ”

“It's pressure that I didn't used to handle. I did not yet have all the codes of the economic or political world. ”

With the commitment of Teréga (a gas supplier, also a sponsor of Chardy) for the first three editions, the project was able to materialize. “It took a year and a half to set up the tournament. It's pressure that I didn't used to handle. I did not yet have all the codes of the economic or political world. We had to get the 500,000 euros budget and present the project to economic and political actors. The advantage is that I have known François Bayrou (mayor of Pau) for a long time. He was the one who married me (laughs). He tracks my results and always calls me when I do well. ” With € 92,040 in prize money, the tournament brings together players between the 70th and 150th places worldwide. And Tuesday, the test aroused curiosity with the presence of Leo Borg (16 years old) "a favorite wild card" who lost 6-2, 6-3 in the 1st round against the Latvian Ernests Gulbis (220th in the world, who had been eliminated in the 3rd round of the last Australian Open by Gaël Monfils), under the eyes of his parents). 106th world junior, the young Swede continues his apprenticeship of the highest level him who lived in Pau his second match with the professionals after a first defeat against the Taiwanese Chun-hsin Tseng (272nd world) in Bergamo, last week.

An exhibition with Noah on Saturday

On the sidelines of the tournament, there will be an exhibition on Saturday with Yannick Noah, Cédric Pioline, the unavoidable showman Mansour Bahrami and… Jérémy Chardy himself (he cannot compete in the tournament being the director): “Being always in activity, I am close to the players because they see me every week. It helps me a lot. For them it's easy to send me a message and it makes them want to come more easily. Because in general, you don't talk to a tournament director. "The Director pampers the players as, himself is pampered on the big circuit:" My goal is to get as close as possible to what I live in the year as a player. With hot and cold recovery baths, a nearby hotel, a players' lounge ... It is the first time that I see with an external gaze what I live every day. I observe this with real detachment. When the players land, in their bubble, with their pre-game stress and with their request, it's really funny. ”

“I am not preparing my retraining anyway. It is more of a heart project than a business project. "

The one who was 25th in the world in January 2013 has adapted for a year and a half his life as a player to that of a decision maker: "It's a lot more work than I imagined!" I thought it would be simpler. When I go to a tournament I look at things differently now. Everything was new in this project, I discovered things about myself and many decision makers shared their experience and gave me their advice. This allowed me to evolve as a man because we are faced with a lot of choices where we have to decide. When you are a player, you do not suspect the logistics, the search for sponsors, the late e-mails… "The current 59th world (33 years old) sees further:" During the tournament, I already work for the edition after . I kept 100% of last year's sponsors. I want to make this tournament live as long as possible and why not make them evolve in ATP 250. "With Pau da ns skin: " I do this to give back to my city which helped me at the beginning of my career when I needed support and money. I'm not sure I will be the director of another tournament. I am not preparing my retraining anyway. It's more of a heart project than a business project. ”

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