New Delhi: The French Tennis Federation (FFT) organizers of the world’s premier clay court event – Roland-Garros, in association with the All India Tennis Association (AITA), announced the fifth edition of the ‘Roland-Garros Junior Wild Card Series’ on Friday.
The fifth edition of the ‘Roland-Garros Junior Wild Card Series’ will see a total of eight players each from the boys’ and girls’ category competing to earn qualification to the wild card playoffs of the Junior draws at Roland-Garros 2019 in Paris.
The Roland-Garros Junior Wild Card Series aims at providing a clay court tennis experience to the young talent of India, and at promoting the same at the grassroots level.
This competition will be held at the clay courts of the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) from April 29th to May 1st, 2019.
The top-8 boys and top-8 girls in the ITA rankings will be chosen to participate in the competition. It is an important tournament as it gives the winners the opportunity to compete against the best junior players from China, Brazil, and India.
The competition returns to the country for the fifth consecutive year, and this year the four-time Roland-Garros winner Justine Henin will be present in the city for the competition.
Legendary tennis star Justine Henin will be visiting India for a two-day trip where she will host a tennis clinic with the players and will be watching the young Indian talent perform on the clay courts.
The former World No. 1 women’s player won Roland-Garros in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, and is considered as one of the best female tennis players to have graced the court.
“It has been a dream for me to visit India, and when the French Tennis Federation (FFT) proposed this opportunity, I couldn’t say no. I have a huge admiration for young Indian talent, and I am looking forward to working with them and seeing them in action at the ‘Roland-Garros Junior Wild Card Series,” Justine Henin, the tennis legend said.
“India has always been a major part of our Junior Wild Card competition, and we have been proud to see the players make it to the Junior draws at Roland-Garros. It gives me immense joy to announce that we will be continuing with the ‘Roland-Garros Junior Wild Card Series’ in New Delhi, and I would like to thank the All India Tennis Association for their continued support in this initiative and making it an even bigger success with each passing year,” Bernard Giudicelli, the President of FFT said.
This competition confirms the collaborative effort put in by both Roland-Garros and AITA to organize grassroots championships of international repute in India. This rendezvous is instrumental in producing many young talents who have represented the nation in the junior levels.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]