At Roland Garros,
We will not have made the trip for nothing! On the occasion of the press conference presenting the Roland-Garros tournament, this Friday, Porte d’Auteuil, director Amélie Mauresmo had a smile when announcing the many new features of the 2023 edition. the little technical hiccup that delayed the former player’s speech by a few minutes to come straight to the point. Celebration of the 40th anniversary of Yannick Noah’s victory at Roland, opening to the public of training sessions for players during qualifying week, night session progress and establishment of a structure to fight against the cyberharassment of athletes, this is roughly the program detailed by Mauresmo.
- Red carpet for Yannick Noah
On June 5, 1983, Yannick Noah won Roland-Garros. Forty years later, no Frenchman has succeeded him on the list, but the tournament intends to mark the occasion. The charity day organized on Saturday, on the eve of the first day of the tournament, is renamed “Yannick Noah Day” and a fresco in his image will be unveiled the next day inside the stadium. Other surprises will be on the program but Mauresmo has been careful not to reveal them. Asked by a colleague about the possible organization of a concert by the former captain of the France Davis Cup team, the tournament director did not deny it. “Anything is possible, there will be a nice thing! “, she announced.
- 30-minute advanced night sessions
At the request of the players, but also of the public, the organizers have looked into the question of the schedules of the night sessions. “We will gain half an hour,” announced Mauresmo, with the start of the matches at 8:30 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. On the other hand, this small development will not mean the end of the galleys for the public since, as announced by Amélie Mauresmo, the negotiations with the RATP have not made it possible to reach an agreement on the subject of a possible extension of the public transport time slots. “We tried but no, it’s cooked… But it will be the same for the Olympic Games next year”, she insisted.
- A program that still raises questions
As for the evening programming between the women’s and men’s matches, which had raised some questions of fairness last year, with only one ladies’ match offered out of the ten night sessions, nothing has been changed for the 2023 edition. Mauresmo considered that it “would be a mistake” to establish a quota of women’s matches for these evenings, adding in a pirouette that she would not forbid anything but that “it is the tables that will guide” the programming . Contractually, the French Tennis Federation (FFT), organizer of the tournament, must schedule the day’s poster during the night session for the exclusive broadcaster of these matches, Prime Video. There is therefore still a risk of seeing many more boys than girls once the sun has set.
- Training open to the public
Great novelty this year, spectators will have the opportunity to attend the training sessions of the players during the qualifying week, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., on the Philippe-Chatrier court.
- Roland-Garros pioneer in the fight against cyberbullying
Finally, the latest novelty, the fight against cyberbullying of players. Regularly victims of hatred and insults from brave anonymous people who rage on social networks, athletes will be able (for the first time in history on a grand slam tournament) to act to fight against this. A company will thus be commissioned throughout the fortnight to carry out computer monitoring and erase the offensive content that has been targeted. “It’s canon for the mental well-being of the players, applauded Mauresmo. It clears the mind. Everyone will be able to present themselves more freely on the court. I can’t wait to see how players feel about this service. »