Nicolas Escudé, new DTN of French tennis.
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REAU ALEXIS / SIPA
Nicolas Escudé, appointed Acting National Technical Director (DTN) on Thursday, explained on Monday that he wanted to recreate "French tennis" capable of bringing young people to the highest level from a broad base of practitioners.
“The training model has fumbled.
For me, it is necessary to put volume at the bottom of the pyramid ", explained the former player now aged 44, considering that in recent years the detection system had become" too selective ".
Nicolas Escudé recognizes "that he is not starting from a blank sheet"
"The more players we have, the more chances we have" to find one who will reach the highest level and eventually win this Grand Slam title after which France has been chasing since the coronation of Yannick Noah in 1983 at Roland-Garros.
The new DTN, who succeeds Pierre Cherret, assured that he was not starting "with a blank sheet".
“The results (in recent years) are not far from exceptional.
All that's missing is the Grand Slam title, ”he said.
However, he immediately insisted on the fact that, if the Federation and its DTN had the role of "arming our kids so that they arrive as quickly as possible at the highest level", from a technical point of view, physical but also mental, the fact remained that "the last step", that which will allow a player to lift a major trophy, would depend on himself and no longer on the instance.
Nicolas Escudé, should be confirmed in his functions of DTN after the Roland-Garros tournament (May 24 - June 6), at the end of a regulatory process which provides for a call for candidates and the hearings of the candidates.
As a player, he reached 17th place in the world in 2000 and notably won the 2001 Davis Cup with France.
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