NEW DELHI: The fourth edition of Rendez-Vous à Roland-Garros began Wednesday with the Junior Wild-Card Competition at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium clay courts in the capital and will run through till Friday.
It has had a complete makeover from the previous editions of the event.
Seeing an excellent response in the past, Rendez-vous à Roland-Garros returned this year with two unique events. Apart from the Roland-Garros Junior Wild-Card Competition by Longines, this year will also see the launch of the Roland-Garros Amateur Series by Longines, an open-for-all exhibition series to be held at at the Bowring Institute, St Marks Road in Bengaluru from April 30th-May 6th.
The aim of the Roland-Garros Junior Wild-Card Competition by Longines is for the best young players across the country to participate in the wild card playoffs at the Junior French Open 2018 in Paris. At the event, they will compete against the best players from China and Brazil to win the wild card for the Junior French Open 2018.
Bernard Giudicelli, president of FFT said: “We are happy to announce the 4th edition of Rendez-Vous à Roland-Garros. It has been an extremely satisfying journey for us in India so far. As a part of continued commitment to grow the sport, we are introducing multiple exciting avenues for fans and young players alike to engage with Roland-Garros. All of this wouldn’t have been possible without the collaborative efforts of our sponsors and All India Tennis Association (AITA). I would like to thank them for supporting our initiative and making it an even bigger success with each passing year.”
As a part of their new initiatives for this edition of Rendez-Vous à Roland-Garros, the brand has introduced an opportunity to all its fans by giving them a real ‘Rendez-Vous’ to the Roland-Garros stadium which will be the ultimate experience for the winners of the Amateur series by Longines. Roland-Garros also plans to introduce Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas, Roland-Garros Clubs and Roland-Garros Camps this year onwards.
AITA president, Mrs Praveen Mahajan, explained the impact of the tournament on Indian players. She said: “The tournament has helped us unearth many talents from across the country. Last year we had Abhimanyu Vannemreddy winning the wild card tournament in France and eventually qualifying for the Junior Roland-Garros. We have some fantastic players participating in the tournament, and I am looking forward to an exciting competition this year. l would like thank our honorary life president Mr Anil Khanna for kick-starting this wonderful initiative that provides a platform of global stature to the budding amateur tennis players of our country.”
