The decline of French women’s tennis has been well-documented. Now it seems the men are slipping away.
PARIS — Roland Garros conjures up nostalgic images — the warmth of the city in the spring, packed restaurants and a crowd going wild as a home player fights back for a heroic victory. This year, the restaurants are full and the weather has been good, but the sight of victorious French players has been almost nonexistent. For the first time since 1968, when tennis turned professional, no French players, men or women, have reached the third round, from a total of 29. The front page of L’Equipe, the French sports newspaper, told the sorry tale on Friday: „There are no more French in the first week,“ read the headline, with the word „second“ crossed out. The decline of French women’s tennis, since the retirement of Amelie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce, has been well-documented. Now it seems the men are slipping away. „Of course it’s the end of an era,“ said Richard Gasquet, who was beaten by 13-time champion Rafael Nadal on Thursday. „I’m 35. [ Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga is 36, [ Gilles] Simon is 37, and Gael [Monfils] is 35. „For us, it’s even great to be there [at Roland Garros]. Of course we are a great generation. I hope it will be the same for the French future. Now’s a little bit difficult, but we have to see who’s coming and I hope many players will come in the future.“ For a nation with a rich tennis history, from Suzanne Lenglen to the four Musketeers — Jean Borotra, Rene Lacoste, Henri Cochet and Jacques Brugnon — to Yannik Noah, Pierce and Mauresmo, it is undeniably a low moment. Noah was the last French man to win any Grand Slam singles title, when he beat Mats Wilander in 1983, and Pierce was the last French winner at Roland Garros in 2000.
