• The first edition of the Lagardère Trophy is being held this week, from May 9 to 15, in the Bois de Boulogne.

  • Kristina Mladenovic and Diane Parry are among the headliners.

  • The tournament wants to establish itself as an essential stage on the road leading to Roland-Garros.

Let's take a walk in the woods, for a WTA tournament.

Eight years after the last edition of the Open GDF Suez, the world of tennis finds a 100% female meeting in the capital, organized by Lagardère Paris Racing and categorized WTA 125. With as headliners, the Estonian Kaia Kanepi, the Polish Magda Linette, and of course French women, in particular Kristina Mladenovic and Diane Parry.

All in a magnificent setting, La Croix Catelan, in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne.

“Frankly, everyone is unanimous.

A women's tournament in Paris, just before Roland-Garros, it's hard to say that it's not a good idea, enthuses the director of this Lagardère Trophy, Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro.

I'm super happy, it's really hot.

To top it all off, the weather is looking good.

Ideal for enjoying the joys of clay and preparing for the French Open.

A scent of Roland

The Lagardère Paris Racing club, which has no less than 45 courts, has been busy for months in order to be able to welcome some of the best players on the planet.

"Having experienced the circuit, it's rare to have such beautiful sites," says Cohen-Aloro, winner of the Fed Cup in 2003. And the athletes answered the call: "We are lucky to having a very dense line-up, with girls between the 54th and the 130th in the world approximately, welcomes Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro.

90% of them play the final draw of Roland-Garros, some will go to Strasbourg the following week, others will stay to train in Paris.

A few months ago, many people said to me: "Obviously, it's noted in my diary!"

The tournament is ideally placed.

»

Ideal also in terms of timing.

The Lagardère Trophy is held just before qualifying for the French Open, which begins on Monday 16 May.

The Czech Linda Fruhvirtová, eighth finalist in Miami, where she beat Elise Mertens then took advantage of the abandonment of Victoria Azarenka, against whom she led 6-2, 3-0, will be there.

Just like Chloé Paquet, Fiona Ferro and Esla Jacquemot, who won Roland-Garros as a junior in 2020, with the ambition of shaking the court Françoise-Dürr, winner of Roland-Garros in 1967.

“We wanted to take advantage of this beautiful window to bring together a quality field, because it offers players similar playing conditions at Roland-Garros in terms of balls and pitches.

There is a real meaning, ”insists Benjamin Boulanger, Deputy Managing Director of Racing.

There is a scent of Porte d'Auteuil, located barely three kilometers away, which necessarily gives the ambition to settle in a permanent way as a springboard to the second Grand Slam of the calendar.

“We want to anchor ourselves in the international calendar and, in the long term, consider all the perspectives inherent in this type of event, perhaps by asking the question of the men”, he specifies.

The yellow ball is good.

But seeing further is better, and that's part of the roadmap.

Ecology, workshops and Parmentier

On the sidelines of the tournament, a conference will be organized on abuse of authority and the role of parents in sport, workshops on ecology and tennis health, as well as an introduction to wheelchair tennis.

“This tournament is part of the life of a club, so we wanted to adopt this approach and take steps to raise awareness,” explains Benjamin Boulanger.

In this perspective, Racing has notably worked with Doctor Bernard Montalvan, who has been working with the FFT for three decades.

The organization will also welcome a hundred young people from underprivileged neighborhoods every day, for example from La Courneuve or Tremblay.

“They will spend the day with us, experience an initiation to tennis and attend the matches.

Making them spend a day in a magical place, giving them the opportunity to come to tennis, that's important to us.

We also worked with Ali Oubaali at the town hall of the 16th arrondissement to set up a similar approach with schools.

Through sport, there are plenty of beautiful things to discover.”

But also to offer, since the tournament is associated with the Imagine foundation to raise funds for the treatment of childhood cancer.

“We want to use this tournament to convey values ​​that seem important to us,” insists Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro.

The tournament director will be able to count on the former 40th in the world Pauline Parmentier, the benchmark for wheelchair tennis Stéphane Houdet or the double winner of the Davis Cup Cédric Pioline to animate the week.

"We had no trouble convincing them, it's the tennis family," she smiles.

They will help us make this first edition a great success, we all want it to work”.

Sport

Roland-Garros: Here it is Parry!

At barely 16, the Frenchwoman Diane Parry creates a huge sensation

Roland-Garros - Ladies Final: The surprise until the end!

Krejcikova wins her first major title, at 25... Relive the match live

  • Sport

  • Tennis

  • Lagardere

  • WTA

  • Kristina Mladenovic

  • Roland Garros 2022