Handing over the trophy to Daniil Medvedev (winner 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 over Alexander Zverev) in an empty Accor Arena room, Guy Forget at a press conference, took the time to take stock of the tournament and discuss the future of the circuit in the short term.
Daniil Medvedev:
“He impressed me and it's not the first time.
This is the new generation, we often talk about after Nadal, after Djokovic, after Federer, Medvedev and Zverev are part of the next generation.
Medvedev (24) has a surprising game, a lot of talent.
At a time with very powerful players who play from the baseline with a game that is sometimes a little stereotypical, he has a touch of madness that makes him sympathetic, a touch of genius, we remember his spat with the new public -Yorkis who (in 2019) helped him to transcend himself, to surpass himself, which was reminiscent of a certain John McEnroe.
Tennis needs boys like that, different.
We have a beautiful winner.
And it can still improve.
What will he give in two, three years with a stronger game, even more powerful strikes?
Perhaps he will win Grand Slam tournaments.
But there are many others, there is Zverev, let's hope there will be Ugo Humbert, a boy that I like very much, who has a very good potential.
Even if the road is still long, it is off to a good start.
And then there are Shapovalov, Thiem, Tsitsipas and others who can claim to win Grand Slam tournaments… ”
The Russian tournament:
“He's a fantastic player, which is his charm.
After the first lap, his trainer told me that he had a bit of a tough discussion with him.
So that he realized that he was playing very well even if sometimes it was difficult.
Tennis is a game where you have to manage your frustrations, there are players in whom it quickly takes over.
The role of his coach was to channel him throughout this tournament.
And it went crescendo.
He will go to London for the ATP Finals with a lot of confidence and wins.
Nothing replaces confidence in a tennis player.
We had a fine winner. ”
Assessment after Roland-Garros and the Masters 1000:
“We did it.
What was needed was to achieve financial balance, not to lose money.
Thanks to the other Masters 1000 tournaments, we were able to balance the budget.
We were able to pay the players, even if they had a 40% reduction in their prices.
They came.
The quality of the game was present.
There are a lot of good things to remember.
If you tell me about the spectators, I was sad.
Next year we will benefit from much more packed stands.
French tennis has fulfilled its contract.
What made us happy was the word of thanks from the players.
In general, they are demanding, when they come to find us something is wrong, it could be the hotel, the food, the courts, the balls.
This year, every time the players left Paris, they said thank you for keeping the tournament going.
They realize that an empty room is difficult, especially for the organizers.
This all has a cost.
We made the bet to support the ATP which is going through a difficult situation, like the WTA.
The players saw that the French Federation was doing a good job. "
“We want to be optimistic but what is true today may not be true tomorrow. We cross fingers…"
Guy Forget
What about the circuit in 2021?
“We don't know how it will be in 2021, there are big question marks… Australia is in the process of finding a way to bring all the players in a '' secure '' way but there is other tournaments which are not sure to take place next season and which are doing their utmost to try to take place, as we did.
We are worried because we have no prospects.
We will have to find, as here, televisual means of producing tournaments behind closed doors.
The big tournaments can afford it, the smaller ones will have more difficulty but we try to be in solidarity with each other.
The WTA, ATP, we talk a lot together.
With the four Grand Slam tournaments too.
This year, there have been three out of four that have been played, that's an achievement.
We want to be optimistic but what is true today may not be true tomorrow.
We cross fingers…"
The Australian Tour:
“Every tournament is obliged to follow the measures taken by the governments.
The measures in Australia are drastic, and in particular on the State of Victoria which manages the Australian Open in Melbourne.
They are aware of the importance of the meeting, they want to make things easier for the professional players to come, but it is complicated.
I read that they wanted to impose a fortnight quarantine in a totally '' secure '' place.
A Grand Slam tournament is more than 600 players, with the accompanying persons, the families we are talking about perhaps more than 2,000 people, I don't know how they will do it.
I am in solidarity with all these tournaments like the Australian Open which will do the maximum in relation to their constraints to be able to accommodate the population of a Grand Slam, it's monumental… ”
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