Samuel Brosset had imagined a completely different end to his adventure at Roland Garros. Hired as a sparring partner for the 120th edition of the prestigious Parisian tournament, the Chartrain has, in fact, lived a waking dream, touching with the tip of the racket the same balls as the flower of world tennis: the Italian Jannick Sinner (editor’s note: 8th finalist in the men’s table), the Spaniard Albert Ramos Vinolas or the French Adrian Mannarino and Caroline Garcia.
Samuel Brosset back on the courts in 2020
However. Everything changed on June 3, with a phone call from tournament management, just five days after the start of the main draw. “The person told me that my behavior was unacceptable, that I was paid to play tennis and not to create the atmosphere”, then indicated the player licensed at ATG Tours.
“At the US Open, I would have looked like a genius! “
In question, his attitude during a doubles match of Benoît Paire as well as a selfie shared with the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, a practice formally prohibited by the regulations. Failures that earned him an almost instantaneous eviction and just as much misunderstanding: “I had trouble admitting it at the time. Since then, I have taken a step back from it all. I know people who work at Roland and we talked about it a lot. It’s still a great memory but I tell myself that I could have handled it differently, “observes the 23-year-old left-hander, who,” to the point of horror “, had been selected to hit the ball with Novak Djokovic, the future winner. of the event (winner of the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas), during the final, scheduled eight days after his “bad buzz”.
The Chartrain Samuel Brosset excluded from Roland-Garros for “having put too much atmosphere” and taking pictures with Benoît Paire and Rafael Nadal
The best answer I can give is to qualify for the main draw.
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And from hindsight to humor, there is only one step: “I was discussing it last week with a good tennis player friend. We said to ourselves, that at Wimbledon, a behavior like mine would have earned me jail, Roland is an exclusion but at the US Open or in Australia, I would have passed for a genius! “, Laughs Brosset, who does not deny his taste for the American show, to the point of venerating” phenomena “such as the legendary John McEnroe or Jimmy Connors. Show enthusiasts that have not been found on the circuit for a few years.
“The best answer I can give now is to go back to Roland but by qualifying for the main draw,” dares the Chartrain, who has chosen not to venture onto the Future circuit (the third world level), as costly as it is energy-consuming: “It may seem like an unattainable goal, but I would like to settle between 100th and 250th place within three years”, confides the player trained at TC Chartres and former member of the hope center of Blois, currently 68th French player. Suffice to say that the road is still long. And full of pitfalls.
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David Berthélem
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