French women warm hearts in these first days of the Roland-Garros tournament.
After Caroline Garcia who, like a big sister, showed the example by beating the Belgian Elise Mertens (1-6, 6-4, 7-5) this Friday, two other French women will be on the courts this Saturday to try to qualify for the round of 16.
Fiona Ferro, 23, will face Romanian Patricia Tig, and Clara Burel, 19, will challenge Chinese Shuai Zhang.
We have to go back to 1994 to find traces of three Habs in the second week.
The three funny ladies were then called Mary Pierce, Julie Halard and Alexia Dechaume.
So, simple lightening in a very gray sky or real embellishment?
"It's a good surprise because nobody expected it, it's the first time in a long time that there was no French seed before the start of the tournament," says Marion Bartoli, last French winner of a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon in 2013. But this Roland Garros is special because of the long cut, due to the health crisis, which had an impact on the preparations of the players.
Top-level sport is anything but fast.
A career is made up of ups and downs.
It is the school of patience.
Among the boys, there was a good generation, which comes to the end of the cycle, among the girls there are always surprises.
"
The radiant smile of @clara_burel đ!
The 19-year-old Frenchwoman qualifies for the 2nd round of #RolandGarros by beating the Slovenian Kaja Juvan 7/6, 6/2.
đ«đ· đđ» pic.twitter.com/ZGfag5KkqH
- FFT (@FFTennis) October 1, 2020
Especially for Clara Burel, world No. 357, who is playing her first main draw at Roland Garros.
Champion of the Australian Open junior in 2019 and world number 1 in the category that year, the Breton had seen her hatching delayed due to a heavy operation on an elbow last year.
On the other hand, the presence in the 3rd round of the Niçoise Fiona Ferro, who has the particularity of evolving without an appointed supplier for her outfits, is less surprising.
She has also just chained 17 successes in a row in all competitions, including 7 on the WTA circuit.
"Not the same age, but the same love of competition"
âI am not surprised for Fiona who confirms her results, explains Alexandra Fusai, responsible for high level women in charge of 11-18 years at the Federation.
For Clara there are more unknowns but, with her, there is always something going on.
But we must not compare their backgrounds.
They are not the same age but both have the same love of competition, understand the game and are determined.
They have this ability to follow through on their own.
"
And they give the Federation a smile again.
After years of scarcity, the FFT has set up a program for the youngest players.
The goal is to allow them to compete with the best of their age categories on the world circuit.
âWe noticed that the players who performed well in junior were successful in senior,â continues Fuzai.
We are trying to catch up.
It's starting to show.
