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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IC of Italy qualify for Worldwide IC Junior Challenge Finals

The final day "play-offs" once again produced some very close matches including yet another mixed doubles decider. In the top match Italy were successful in a well fought match with Israel eventually winning 4-2 to take The European IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge with Israel in second place. But for a few points different it could have gone to a mixed doubles decider. In the match for third and fourth place Ireland won over Slovenia 4-2 but had to win two 10 point third set deciders to do that. In the match up for fifth and sixth places Great Britain won over Spain 5-1 and again with some close matches. Meanwhile the match up between hosts Germany and Austria for seventh and eighth place proved to be the closest of the day with Austria coming through in a mixed doubles decider after the overall match was tied at three individual matches each. So final placings are:

1. Italy
2. Israel
3. Ireland
4. Slovenia
5. Great Britain
6. Spain
7. Austria
8. Germany

Italy as the winning team were presented with their trophies by IC Germany President Alex Kurucz and they will be going to the Worldwide Finals in La Jolla, San Diego, California in November next year. This has probably been the most closely contested regional challenge ever. But for a few points, including some lost "match points" a different result could easily have happened. Indeed the organisers felt that if the event was repeated three times it could well be a different winner each time. So it has been a great experience for all the juniors with the round robin format giving them both a singles and doubles each day ..... and quite often a mixed doubles too this year! The unique format including both boys and girls as one team seems to be very successful and an enjoyable one both on and off court in the IC tradition of "Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean".

An enjoyable time was experienced at the final night dinner at a venue of German sponsor Rossbacher ( a manufacturer of water and soft drinks) who were thanked for their great support and were present for the evening. The event is not possible without the help of many volunteers and there were many from IC of Germany who were thanked by IC Council representative Kit Spencer for their hosting of a successful European Challenge. As well as the presentation to winning teams an important award of the IC is the Sportsmanship Awards given for exhibiting both a good attitude and friendship on and off court. These deservedly went to Johanna Halper of Austria and Mat Rutter of Great Britain. By the applause from their fellow juniors it seems they too felt they were worthy recipients. A highlight of the Final Night dinner was a Karaoke Event in which all teams performed at least one song to the amusement of both themselves and the audience. This finished up with a great finale of all teams getting together to sing "We are the world" which showed wonderful friendship between the juniors.

It is a week that the juniors will remember all their life. Many of them and their coaches expressed that it was one of their best ever tennis experiences and quite probably the best.

IC Luxembourg have already offered to host the next European Challenge in 2021 which teams will look forward too and their support is appreciated.