They practice one of the most spectacular tennis, and finally gain in recognition. For the first time in the history of Roland-Garros, tennis-fautuil players played their match on the court Philippe-Chatrier. It was in this mythical arena that was played on Saturday April 4 at the end of the morning, the ladies’ final between the heads of standard 1 and 2, the Dutch Diede de Groot and the Japanese Yui Kamiji. Diede de Groot won (6-4, 6-1), pocketing, at 25, his third title on the Parisian clay. The two players also compete in the final of the double ladies Tennis-Fauteuil.
In men, the Japanese Shingo Kunieda (38 years old), legend of Tennis-Fauteuil, already holder of seven titles at Roland-Garros in his category, came to the end of the Argentin Gustavo Fernandez, ten Years cadet, in three sets (6-2, 5-7, 7-5) after more than 2:30 a.m.
The day before, the two men had already shown their talent to the public (too sparse) of the Chatrier, by winning together the semi-final of the double gentlemen, Faced with the French pair Stéphane Houdet-Nicolas Peifer , on the score of 7-6, 6-1. In the final, the Argentinian and the Japanese are opposed to a British duo, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid.
Exchanges, good humor and frank fun
Beyond this better highlighting of chair competitors (which also resulted in the 2022 edition of Roland-Garros by a greater number of participants in the simple ladies and gentlemen tests: 12 Against 8 so far), the tournament has been, as for a few years, an opportunity to make discipline known more broadly, with a discovery day “all in chair”.
This Friday, June 3, close to the Suzanne-Lenglen, on the clay of the court number 9, transformed into four mini-shops, many of them come to try tennis-fautuil: children and adults of all ages, valid or with a handicap.
The opportunity for exchanges in every sense of the word, in good humor and sometimes even a frank fun. Some master the gestures of tennis, but struggle to manage the chair at the same time to go towards the ball, when others twirl with their everyday “vehicle”, but are a little borrowed with a tennis racket.
“Raquette in hand”, reminds one of the teachers present to a young person, who had the reflex to put her on his lap while he was pushing his chair with his two hands to move towards the ball. We quickly understand the interest of a possible second rebound, the main feature of tennis-fautuil in terms of rules.
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