Caen tennis open. Aristide Olivier: “playing the final at the Zénith is an incredible moment”
Through Bernard Guyonnet
Published on
Since the start of the All Saints’ school holidays, the clubhouse of Tennis Club of Caen at la Folie-Couvrechef almost looks like a train station concourse. People arrive, other representatives. They do not have suitcases but hold in their hands a precious object called a “racket”. The eight indoor courts do not know the word “pause”. As soon as one match ends, another is about to start… In passing, we salute the enormous work of “the chief dispatcher”, Nathalie Tranquart, referee of the tournament, and of her team!
Nearly 600 players will thus play during these 15 days the qualifications for the finals of the Open. Players from all over the country, eager to find the clay courts of TCC after the sudden stop last year in the middle of competition because of Covid.
Sunday, October 31, 2021, the excitement is in full swing around the courts because family, teammates, friends are there to support their champions, and among the players in full effort, a character well known in the local landscape: Aristide Olivier. The former president of the TCC from 2006 to 2014, who created the Open in 2007 and had the idea of bringing it to the Zenith in 2011, cannot miss this meeting.
Here, it’s a bit like my home. For me it is a necessary step that allows me to see all the people I have worked with on a daily basis for 10 years.
The well-digested defeat, in three sets against a 5/6 anyway: “I haven’t played for a year. I know what to do but the legs do not always follow… ”, Aristide Olivier took part in the game of questions and answers with enthusiasm. Indeed, when it comes to talking about the Caen Open, the one who in 2014 became deputy mayor of Caen in charge, among other things, of youth and sports, never balks.
Sport in Caen: When we see the enthusiasm of the players year after year to compete in this tournament, we can say that it is a great success.
Aristide Olivier: The Open de Caen is an essential event in the French calendar. You only have to look at the prize list to see that it is a prestigious tournament. Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (3 times), David Ferrer won the Open. Daniil Medvedev, the current second world player who just won the US Open, was a finalist with us in 2019.
There is also the women’s tournament which has won its letters of nobility …
Elina Svitolina the current Ukrainian 6th in the ATP ranking won twice and in 2019, Caroline Garcia number 1 French lost in the final against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
What makes the Caen Open so special?
Our desire was to treat and welcome all participants with the same respect. There, for example, we offer good playing conditions. The clay courts which have been completely redone are exceptionally beautiful. Mixing pros and amateurs has always been the meaning of the tournament. The new organizers carried on the tradition.
Some novelties this year concerning the course …
The only notable change concerns the dates of the finals at the Zénith. Previously, they took place from Sunday to Wednesday. This year, it will be from Tuesday December 14 to Friday December 17 because the Zénith receives Miss France on Saturday December 11. For the rest it is the same organization. The male winner and the female winner in the big table during the qualifications switch to the pros tournament and the first two in the 3rd series and the 4th series play their final at the Zénith under the same conditions as the pros.
A 3rd series final at the Zénith, you know …
In 2012, I had the chance to play the 3rd series final at the Zénith. It was an incredible moment to play in this big hall, on the same floor as the pros, with all this audience. This is also the Caen Open …
What is the 2021 plateau?
The organizers have chosen to transform the painting almost entirely. Indeed, apart from David Goffin who entered his name on the tournament’s prize list in 2013, all the other players involved have never taken part in the Caen Open. We can admire in particular the French number 1, Ugo Humbert, Lucas Pouille and among the girls, the Estonian Anett Kontaveit, winner eight days ago of the Moscow Open and in Cluj this Sunday against Simona Halep (6-2, 6 -3). One or two more names will be announced in the coming days.
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