Colin Abgrall 5:18 pm, December 01, 2021

Created in 2018, the BNP Paribas Jeunes Talents team met at Roland-Garros for a day. On the menu: workshops aimed at helping and sensitizing these budding champions to the multiple challenges that high-level sport represents. All supervised by a brand sponsor, the former French number one Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with whom they were able to interact.

It is a recent initiative, which perhaps makes it possible to train the future great champions of French tennis.

BNP Paribas launched the Young Talents Team in 2018, in association with the French Tennis Federation and sponsored by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, former world number five.

The team counts in its ranks 20 young people ranging from 13 to 28 years old and some great talents like Lucas Van Assche, recent winner of Roland-Garros in junior.

The program offers human support, but also and above all financial support.

"A year of tennis costs more than 100,000 euros"

The cost of a year of tennis can go up very high. And when you're only 13 or 14, paying amounts ranging from five to six figures seems lunar and impossible. This is perhaps the biggest advantage of this initiative. "A year of tennis, at my level, costs more than 100,000 euros. Getting that out of the parents' pockets is impossible knowing that I also have a brother and a sister", underlines Gabriel Debru, 15, now the fourth youngest. player to cross the first round of a challenger tournament, among professionals.

In addition to the financial aspect, the young Grenoblois hopes to be guided on the attitude to adopt, especially in relation to social networks.

"Now that I'm playing pro, there are people who insult me ​​when I lose games because they bet. It's something new. Jo can tell us about his experience and how he was able to live with it. . "

Tsonga also makes himself available to these young people, who can call or send him a message at any time when they feel the need.

Share the experience

For his part, the godfather of these young players knows that he has a very important role in the transmission. But Jo-Wilfried Tsonga assures him, "The objective is not to advise or to lead, but to give my experience. From there they will take what they have to take and throw away what they want to throw away. " The former winner of the Masters 1000 at Paris-Bercy (in 2008) then detailed a rich program to support the human and physical development of young champions.

“There is nutrition, mental preparation, meeting great athletes, tennis history lessons, which is very important I think. I have found myself answering questions about this history before and I don't 'knew nothing about it! ", he quips.

"There are English modules as well. Again, I found myself in front of 15,000 people with a mediocre level. There are also the agents, the sponsors, the equipment… It is a very complete program."

For now, each rising star in the program will focus on their season, but they will meet several times in the coming months during seminars, or during masterclasses in the company of great French athletes, before welcoming the 2022 promotion. BNP Paribas would like to welcome 30 young people by 2025.