The champions hang up, the certainty of success remains.
Appointed to the management of the Roland-Garros tournament on Thursday morning, Amélie Mauresmo, smiling and relaxed, has no plans to fail in her next mission.
Without hesitation, she promises to be "up to" the challenge proposed by the boss of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton and its general manager, Amélie Oudea-Castera, both seated next to the former world number one in the auditorium of the Philippe-Chatrier court, which still smells like new.
Anything but hasty choice, despite the timing: if the future ex-boss of the place, Guy Forget, announced his departure two days ago, the first discussions between Mauresmo and the pundits of the Fédé dated back to " a few weeks ”, Moretton refusing to give more precision. “I had major questions about my role, about what we thought a former player could bring in terms of representation and strength of proposal, summarizes the new director. It was immediately well received. I immediately found communication and trust. "It was also necessary to find common ground on the question of the workplace, Mauresmo being attached to Biarritz, where her two children are educated and from whom there is no question of leaving,even if it will inevitably be more present in Paris "as the tournament approaches".
Mauresmo eclipses Forget
But we can not hesitate to make concessions, like a three-year contract for a position yet cut for the long term, when there is so much to gain in the end.
For Gilles Moretton, first of all, enthusiastic about the idea of working with a figure "of fame and international influence like what Roland-Garros is".
For Amélie Oudéa-Castera, then, eager to feminize the governing strata of French tennis at high speed:
“This is an important moment.
For the first time in the history of the tournament, a woman will be director of Roland-Garros and we are proud that it is a champion of this stature who embodies that.
She's going to pull us up.
"
Look at it better, it already does. On Wednesday, Amélie Mauresmo succeeded, by her aura, her attitude - always with a smile and never aggressive on trick questions - and the relevance of her words, to relegate to the background the last puddle of ink on the mixed copy of the new governance. Even if it is true that Moretton took care to get ahead of the college of journalists by opening his conference on the Forget case, whose pharaonic and problematic contract will not be renewed in its revised version. “I offered him several missions alongside us with a stronger international investment and the continuity of his role in the Paris Rolex Masters, but these discussions were unsuccessful and, on Tuesday, he told me that he did not follow up on my proposals. "
Words that resonate with those of the former captain of the France Davis Cup team, who spoke the day before, in L'Equipe, "a proposal [formulated] recently [that he] refused" but that we Can not imagine being the only reason for a brutal announcement, even if his non-existent relations with the new president of the Federation had surely alerted him.
Forget, always: “When he was elected, I congratulated him, I asked him when we could meet to discuss.
I think the first exchange we had was a month and a half after his election.
It's long.
Communication never existed with him.
And clearly, I felt there was no trust.
"
Forget, Noah and the "tennis family"
Still, in this melodrama of French tennis, the feeling of a missing piece remains. Should we look for it in the Pandora papers? According to the extensive investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Guy Forget owned, from 2005 to 2016, an offshore company based in the British Virgin Islands. The ethics committee of the FFT had cleared it in early November, estimating that "in the absence of tax evasion or other criminally reprehensible behavior established, no infringement of the values of honesty and integrity on the part of of M. Forget is not characterized. "But he had invited him to" do everything possible so that the possible damage to his reputation which would result from it does not reflect on that of the tournaments which he directs or on that of the FFT ", if legal consequences were to be data.
Welcome, @AmeMauresmo 🤩
Welcome to Amélie Mauresmo, the new director of #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/ekmKSoETRx
- Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) December 9, 2021
Devious minds could imagine that new elements have reached the hands of the committee, to the point of "firing" the director of Roland and Bercy from the tennis family, to use the words of Yannick Noah on Instagram, causing a fire to start there. again very quickly extinguished by Mauresmo.
“With Yannick, we went through so many strong things that my appointment will not change anything.
It's the same with Guy.
Moreover, I had them on the phone, I wanted to inform them of my decision.
We have very special bonds, and I would say that not much can separate us.
"
There is therefore no doubt, and even if her outspokenness sometimes makes her unpredictable, that the former double Grand Slam winner will be able to avoid in the future - she who wants to pamper the players - certain pitfalls, like drowning a Naomi Osaka in public. already on the verge of burnout.
Gilles Moretton had been awkward to say the least ("it hits the game, it hurts tennis", he said), before recovering after the abandonment of the Japanese player.
At the right time
Mauresmo's appointment comes at the right time to breathe new life into the federation's new governance, which has already been criticized. Supposed to forget the questionable mandate of Bernard Giudicelli, the Moretton camp was quickly overtaken by hardly more glittering suspicions. A long investigation by
L'Equipe
explains how the new team of the FFT would have changed the last election thanks to the betrayal of Cavallin.
The historic treasurer would have joined Moretton in exchange for the abandonment of proceedings by the ethics committee around a suspicious sale of tickets in which he was involved.
The president of the FFT has already mentioned "a company to destroy it" and has undertaken to resume the audit of this ticket sale, in which the Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes League, which he chaired, had also been mentioned. so.
In short, failing to be able to talk about the good results of the French players, it was time to announce some good news.
Sport
Pandora Papers: Guy Forget resigns from the post of director of Roland-Garros and of the masters of Bercy
Sport
Roland-Garros: Amélie Mauresmo succeeds Guy Forget at the head of the tournament
Sport
Fft
Roland Garros
Tennis
Amelia Mauresmo
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