On the occasion of the start of Roland-Garros, Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation, returned on Sunday evening to the last poor results of the French on the Parisian clay.

According to him, we must put the fighting spirit and the mind in the spotlight, but also insist on training and technique.

Gilles Moretton also expressed his anger following the "Naomi Osaka affair".

INTERVIEW

How far will the French go this year at Roland-Garros? In recent years, the record has not been very glorious and to see a Habs on the Parisian clay during the second week of the Tournament is a rare event. "We come out of a fairly good generation, even exceptional with Monfils, Gasquet, Simon and Tsonga. All four were at the same time in the ten best players in the world. Difficult to find a place when we have at the same time Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, but we had a good period! But they are at the end of their career, "said Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation, guest of Europe 1 Sunday evening.

Gaël Monfils, Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the four musketeers, are now all over 30 years old.

“Gaël Monfils can do something at Roland Garros,” however hopes Moretton.

The 15th in the world will face Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round.

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"We must give priority to training, not to go too fast"

French tennis is struggling today to develop talents, or rather to raise them to the top level.

"We must put forward the main quality of a tennis player: fighting spirit and mentality. Perhaps we are sinning at the moment on this plan," admitted Gilles Moretton.

"In the current context of tennis, we absolutely have to prioritize training and technique. We must not go too fast, unlike what was done before, where we favored the immediate result, from the age of 12, to to the detriment of training. Today, what we see on the ground are players who are as perfect on their technique, which was not the case before, "he continued.

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"Naomi Osaka refused to talk to us"

On Europe 1 Sunday evening, the president of the French Tennis Federation also spoke on "the Naomi Osaka affair".

The Japanese announced in the week that she would no longer participate in press conferences, in order to preserve her mental health.

Naomi Osaka has indeed not changed her mind because on Sunday, after her victory against Romanian Patricia Maria Tig (6-4, 7-6), she did not appear in front of the media.

A decision that Gilles Moretton sees as a "lack of respect for tennis".

He also said he took a step towards the world number 2.

"We have already approached her agent to say that we wanted to help her at a time that may be difficult for her. I myself went to see her with Guy Forget (director of Roland-Garros ) on her training course two days ago. She refused to speak to us. She left through a back door. I think that is not a professional attitude. We listen to her, we understand that she is having difficulties, "he said.

"Disrespectful of sport"

"It is unacceptable to have people who will only communicate through their social networks. It is very dangerous because, since the beginning of the year, she does not realize that the tournaments have been held without public, sometimes without sponsors, thanks to TV and media rights. That's how she was able to play at the beginning of the year or last year. It's disrespectful to sport in general. J 'hope she changes her mind,' he continued.

As press conferences are compulsory for players, the organization of Roland-Garros fined Naomi Osaka $ 15,000 (around 12,300 euros). The Grand Slam organization, which manages the four major tournaments, has for its part been severe and brandished the threat of exclusion. "We can continue to give him fines game after game, but we can also go further," concluded Gilles Moretton.