Villa Primrose shared the points last Saturday in Annecy-le-Vieux (3-3). She therefore started this new Interclub season in the same way as the last one. A way of reminding us that the century-old club remains a flagship structure for competitive tennis on national courts. This very special championship, which is also celebrating its centenary (first edition in 1914), and which the Gironde club has won four times in fifteen years (2012, 2016, 2018 and 2020) remains in substance the biggest meeting of the Caudère club. with the Challenger of the month of May.
As a quick reminder, the event is played in a succession of four singles followed by two doubles played with specific rules such as that of a third set of ten points. The latter has the ability to raise the atmosphere a notch on the clay courts of the competition.
This season, Villa Primrose will host three times, instead of two in the fall of 2023. The Girondins finished third in their group after their sad defeat during the second day at home against Loon Plage (1-5) who had played the final won by Boulogne-Billancourt. Meanwhile, Petit Poucet Annecy, on whom the Bordelais stumbled on Saturday, had snatched the place of dolphins in the group. Positive point, the Primrosiens had won twice and drawn away (2-4 at Blanc-Mesnil, 2-4 at Thionville and 3-3 at Clermont).
Shared pleasure
After Annecy, here is Paris TC arriving in Gironde this Wednesday (matches from 1 p.m.). We have to go back to the fall of 2019, the season of the last national title for Villa Primrose (4-2 over Quimperlé) to find traces of the presence of the Parisians, even though they have won the event five times. The club director underlines his pleasure in welcoming them: “We beat them five years ago (5-1) with victories for Chardy, Stakhovsky, Benchetrit and Llodra but my best memory against them remains our first national title, in December 2011, in the League of Flanders where Llodra, Chardy, Paire and Darcis won (4-0) over Simon, Benneteau, Mahut and Gicquel. »
The Parisians, who have just come back after a few years of scarcity, maintain a good basic structure with Tristan Lamasine (N37), Corentin Denolly (N44), Robin Haase (N100), but especially the Italian Luciano Darderi (N4), Luca Van Assche (N11), Ugo Blanchet (N21), Kyrian Jacquet (N26), the Dane August Holmgren (N26) or Corentin Denolly.
This collective will certainly be delighted to see Richard Gasquet (N15), rested in Annecy but who will be making his first with the club. The former Wimbledon and US Open semi-finalist will be alongside Hugo Grenier (N23), Mathias Bourgue (N39), Elliott Benchetrit (N75), newcomer and native of Échirolles Luca Bouquet (N61) , Landais Louis Dussin and the stainless assistant captain Édouard Roger-Vasselin. There is no doubt that the ingredients are there for a great battle from which Villa Primrose, at home, will want to emerge victorious.
Practical
The staff of Villa Primrose. Roberto Bautista-Agut (47th) Richard Gasquet (133rd), Hugo Grenier (158th), Mathias Bourgue (451st), Eliott Benchetrit (644th), Lucas Bouquet (532nd), Louis Dussin (741st), Édouard Roger-Vasselin (31st in doubles and co-captain), Steve Darcis (co-captain), Jean-Baptiste Perlant (manager).
The calendar. Pool A: Annecy – Primrose (3-3); Primrose – TC Paris (this Wednesday, November 13); Primrose – TC Strasbourg (Saturday November 16); TC Boulogne-Billancourt – Primrose (Wednesday November 20); Primrose – Clermont (Saturday November 23).
Matches begin at 10 a.m. this Wednesday.
