The Robert Abdesselam Trophy returns to France

The 10th edition of the Robert Abdesselam Trophy took place from 21-23 August and brought together four international teams — Spain, Belgium, Great Britain, and France — for a competition featuring one Women’s Doubles, one Men’s Doubles, and two Mixed Doubles per match.

The French team prepared with great professionalism, with some high-altitude training in the Vercors Mountains. There, the players enjoyed scenic hikes through historic forest trails, breathtaking views over Grenoble, and, most importantly, an intensive tennis camp led by their long-time coach, Bruno Delorme, at the Villard-de-Lans Tennis Club. Off the courts, the group took time to share meals and test their culinary skills, further strengthening team spirit and camaraderie.

On arrival in Avignon, the competitors faced stormy weather. The French delegation managed a short training session on the superb courts of TC Montolivet before heavy rain rendered the grounds unplayable. The club’s President, Jean-Pierre Azam, and his wife Gisèle extended a warm welcome to all participants, their passion and dedication keeping the Avignon club thriving.

Due to the weather, the opening matches were held indoors on a single court instead of the planned four outdoor ones. Consequently, the format was shortened to a single set of six games with a tie-break at 6-6. France started the tournament strongly, defeating Great Britain — a new permanent participant in this long-standing competition — by 4–0 in the morning session. Spain then overcame Belgium in the afternoon.

The following day saw the return of sunshine, allowing play to resume outdoors for the France–Belgium encounter. Despite gusty conditions, France prevailed 3–1. In the afternoon, players and guests enjoyed a guided cultural visit to the Chartreuse de Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, a monastic complex renowned for its austere order and beautiful architecture.

The evening’s social programme featured a warm reception hosted by Odile de Roubin in her elegant family residence, where players gathered for an aperitif before the official dinner — a highlight of the event’s convivial atmosphere.

The final day brought the much-anticipated showdown between France and Spain. The French team were eager to reclaim the Robert Abdesselam Trophy, which had been in Spanish hands since the 2023 edition in Madrid.

The opening women’s doubles match proved challenging: Spain’s pair, Pauline Rodriguez (a former French player ranked no. 15) and Noelia Perez Penate (former WTA no. 121), showed their experience, while France’s Isabelle Billard-Delage sustained an early injury. Fortunately, the French men responded with a narrow win, leaving the teams level at one match apiece.

It was therefore down to the two mixed doubles to decide the title (and avoid a super tie-break in the event of two tied teams after all the matches). The French pairs — Chantal Grimal & Alain Moracchini, and MarieDo Larras & Nicolas Fourcade — made an excellent start, taking their first sets 6–1 and 6–0 respectively. Grimal and Moracchini secured their victory swiftly, while Larras and Fourcade were pushed into a deciding tie-break after their Spanish opponents, Noelia Perez Penate and Fernando Gomes de Segura, fought back to win the second set 6–4. The final tie-break was a thrilling affair, keeping spectators — including loyal French supporters Pascale and Christine — on edge. In the end, the French pair held their nerve to win 11–9, sealing overall victory for France.

The Robert Abdesselam Trophy thus returned to France, to the delight of players, organisers, and supporters alike — a fitting conclusion to three days of high-level tennis, sportsmanship, and international friendship.

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Cancellation of the proposed Legends Event

After a lot of soul searching, discussion and in the end failure to come up with positive answers to many tricky questions, it is with a huge amount of regret that we have decided to cancel the proposed inaugural Legends event. You will recall that we postponed the event in 2020 and hoped to hold it this year, but the circumstances that we still find ourselves in, leave us with very little or no alternative but to cancel.

The situation regarding the Covid pandemic both here and around the world has left far too many questions unanswerable for us to consider holding the event. We also owe a huge responsibility to those players who would be taking part to ensure their complete safety at all times.

Travel to and from South Africa is still difficult with some countries still reluctant to operate a service and then if players could get here what quarantine stipulations would be in place to say nothing of possible quarantine when they return home. 

Chairman Mike Dunk issued the following statement.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have come to the decision to cancel our Legends event. Sad to say there are far too many unanswerable questions surrounding the holding of such an event under the current situation. It is still our ardent hope that in time we can re look at staging such a unique event for the benefit of the whole IC movement, but when that will be, time will decide. I wish to pay a huge tribute and thanks to both Leonie Grondel, who conceptualized the event and Lorna Krog for the massive amount of planning, thought and dedication in trying to get the event to fruition, but outside forces have conspired against them. Their efforts, sadly, came to nought but I extend my sincere gratitude for their diligence and commitment to the task. Where would we be without two such dedicated people as Leonie and Lorna.”

It is planned that later in the year we will be in a position to hold a dinner to honour the Legends of South African tennis which was planned as part of the original event.