Recognized French trainer, Louis Borfiga, 67, notably trained Gaël Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga during his 21 years in the federation, including 14 at Insep, then revolutionized Canadian tennis during the last fifteen years.
If he does not want to be presented as the savior of a tennis tricolor in crisis, he intends to help him to recover.
What made you come back to the French Tennis Federation?
It was time to come home after fifteen years with the Canadian Federation.
Gilles (Moretton, president of the FFT) called me and I didn't hesitate too much.
The fact that he is president had a lot of influence on my return.
It is time for me to give back to the FFT what it has given me in my career.
Based on your reputation and your results, can you be considered the savior of French tennis?
Surely not !
(smiles) The saviors will be the president and the DTN (Nicolas Escudé) and all their teams.
They will consult me when they need it.
French tennis, we are going to save it all together.
You are President Moretton's “special adviser”. What does this mean in concrete terms?
I will bring my experience.
It will be a team effort and I will be consulted.
I will mainly analyze what is being done and propose adjustments with the president and the DTN.
Why is French tennis going so badly?
It's hard to analyze because I wasn't there.
But with the successes of Jo's (Tsonga) generation everyone may have subconsciously slacked off.
We have to look to the future and make the right decisions.
We must re-mobilize in order to restore color to French tennis
What makes you optimistic?
Already, the good atmosphere that reigns at the top with Gilles Moretton and his team.
They are competent people.
And then there are already a lot of young people playing well and young girls arriving.
It's enriching that players like Tsonga or Gasquet also want to get involved.
The more skills there are, the better.
It will take time, but it will pay off.
I am sure.
“We have to play on our strengths and capitalize on them, while keeping our eyes open to what is happening abroad.
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Louis Borfiga
Should we reinvent the French model?
It is important not to destroy this model. All my colleagues abroad agree that French tennis has many advantages. We have to play on our strengths and capitalize on them, while keeping our eyes open to what is happening abroad.
Can France draw inspiration from Italy, for example, where tennis is booming?
Absoutely. The president has had a lot of contact with his Italian counterpart. There are things to learn. We will poke ideas, that's clear! A good coach is a thief of ideas. The Italians have a maximum of competitions on clay, whether it is for the young people, the Challengers, the Futures [the 2nd and 3rd divisions]. It not only helped the players but also the coaches. We can also draw inspiration from their teachers in the clubs, who are very competent.
You have a large network abroad. Do you also plan to bring in renowned coaches for support?
I always say that the French coaches are super good but we should not rest on our laurels.
We are in the process of thinking about what we can improve in the field of education.
We actually want to be more open to foreign coaches.
We are going to activate the networks.
This is also a request from our coaches.
I find it very healthy.
“We have a Grand Slam on earth and the number one goal should be to win Roland Garros.
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Louis Borfiga
How do you explain that in the land of Roland-Garros, young people are trained above all on hard?
It is a mistake. Clay remains the best surface for training. We have a Grand Slam on clay and the number one goal should be to win Roland Garros. The idea would be to multiply the tours on this surface for young people and to train a little more in the South of France or in Spain. This is a strong message that has already been sent by the DTN.
Do French players lack mental preparation?
Nicolas (Escudé) makes it one of his priorities.
He hired a team in this area.
There will be new things.
He's plugged into it.
I'm a bit old school (laughs).
But of course it's great to do mental preparation.
The key message is also that technology for young people must once again become the priority.
The other message to which I agree, too, is that we will no longer attach too much importance to results in the youth categories, we will focus first on their progress.
There are still juniors who are performing well, but what does it take to make the transition to the professional world more successful?
It seems to me that we must cultivate sportsmanship among young people, to make them sportsmen before becoming tennis players.
And we really have to break down barriers.
During a teachers' conference I said that young French people were perhaps a little afraid to show their ambitions.
We were able to uninhibit Canadians.
The day Felix Auger-Aliassime (21-year-old Canadian and 11th in the world) said at 16 that he had no limits, then I said to myself that I had won my bet.
What is important is also the entourage.
It gets complicated in tennis.
A good youngster already has his own agent and preparers.
It is not specific to France.
You have to keep the right values at 18-19 years old and not disperse.