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 Rod Laver Junior Challenge - 2024 Regionals Summary

Following a hugely successful 2023 finals in La Jolla, California, attended by Rod Laver himself, 2024 marked that start of the latest edition of the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge. The competition, which is the only IC event for juniors, aims to provide an opportunity for promising young players to begin a relationship with their respective ICs, travelling abroad to compete while also learning about new cultures in the true spirit of the IC. The competition runs in cycles of two years, with five regional events in year one, and a worldwide final in year two. This year, a total of 18 countries participated in the regional competitions and 6 will be competing in the upcoming worldwide final.

South America was the first regional event which kicked off in September in Argentina in the beautiful setting of the Martindale Country club on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The players were kindly hosted by members of the club and started their stay with a welcome cocktail party. Over three days of competition, the four participating teams – Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay – each played a match against one other in a round robin format. The level of competition was extremely high across the event and three of the six matches came down to the deciding mixed doubles tiebreak, creating a great atmosphere for the players and fans alike! Argentina emerged triumphant after a close battle with Chile and will participate at the worldwide final.

The next regional followed soon after in Europe, hosted in the town of Zaragoza by the IC of Spain. The European competition is the largest of the regionals with a total of eight teams from seven countries participating – Croatia, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and two teams from hosts Spain. The teams were split into two groups of four teams and spent three days playing a round robin. On the fourth day each team played off against the team of the same position in the opposing group to determine the final standings. Alongside the tennis the players were treated to dinner at a local restaurant, a closing dinner at the club, a sightseeing tour of Zaragoza and helped to run a philanthropy tennis clinic. After fighting off Spain 4-3 to top their box, Italy beat Great Britain in the final to win the regional. They will progress to the worldwide finals, and Spain will also have a spot as the host nation.

In November, the North American regional took place with first time hosts Barbados putting together a wonderful sequence of events for the players from Barbados, Canada, Mexico and the USA. Over three days of play the teams each played one another in a round robin event at the scenic Barbados Yacht Club, right on the beach! Despite frequent rain delays, the event progressed smoothly with Mexico defeating the USA in an electric mixed doubled shoot out to win qualification to the worldwide finals. Off court – in addition to enjoying the beachside location, players enjoyed a BBQ and participating in a philanthropy session with children from a local orphanage.

The final regional for Asia/Oceania was hosted in December by the IC of Singapore at the Winchester Tennis Centre. This regional featured only 3 teams – India, Japan and Singapore – so a round robin format was played where each team played each other over three days. On their days off the Indian and Japanese teams were taken on a sightseeing tour of the city by representatives from the IC of Singapore, and all teams had a welcome dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. Last year’s worldwide champions India were back with another strong team and won both their matches to qualify for the finals where they will have the chance to defend their title.

In previous editions of the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge there has been a fifth regional for Africa. However, in light of many difficulties including logistics and the lack of IC member countries in Africa, a decision was made not to hold an Africa regional this year. To ensure continued representation from Africa in the worldwide final, South Africa will be bringing a team selected from their U16 national’s competition. Over time we hope to work out a solution that allows a full Africa regional to be held again.

Full tournament reports and scorecards for the four regionals are available here.

2025 Finals

Now the regionals are complete, all eyes are turning to the 2025 Worldwide Final, which will take place on the historic courts of the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona and Real Club de Tenis Barcelona in Spain. The event will be held from the 26th – 30th July 2025 and the IC committee and IC of Spain are busy finalising preparations for the event. As well as battling on the court for the trophies, the six teams will be able to enjoy a full programme of events including exploring the city of Barcelona, and bonding with each other over local food. We are very grateful to the IC of Spain for their hard work creating a memorable event for the players and look forward to sharing daily reports of the event on social media and the IC website when it all starts!

Participating ICs
Argentina
Italy
Mexico
India
South Africa
Spain (hosts)

Full Results

South America
Winners: Argentina
Runners up: Chile
3rd place: Brazil
4th place: Uruguay

Europe
Winners: Italy
Runners up: Great Britain
3rd place: Spain I
4th place: Slovenia
5th place: Norway
6th place: Spain II
7th place: Luxembourg
8th place: Croatia

North America
Winners: Mexico
Runners up: USA
3rd place: Canada
4th place: Barbados

Asia/Oceania
Winners: India
Runners up: Japan
3rd place: Singapore