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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WEDNESDAY REPORT FROM IC WORLDWIDE FINALS

An exciting day with some extremely close matches that now put an interesting twist on the possible winners.

In the match up between the top seeded Italy and The USA it was a close and in many ways a considerable upset based on ITF Junior rankings. After the singles the it was 3 -1 to USA with the USA winning both girls matches. The result was then decided when the USA girls also came in with a doubles win that their boys also managed later. Congratulations go to the USA on beating an IC Italy team that had all players ranked in the ITF top 200 Juniors.

In what was an even closer match Uruguay eventually came through against Japan. After being 3-1 down in the singles Uruguay rallied to take both girls and boys doubles but only with both going to third set tie breaks. This meant the match would be decided on a mixed doubles which Uruguay won in what is always an exciting and tense match and enjoyable for spectators.

The third match between India and South Africa was two teams who had so far had close matches but unfortunately being on the losing side. The singles matches came through at 2 matches each but only after several going to tie breaks. This meant the doubles could determine the result and indeed it did with South Africa winning both to go 4-2 up and win the tie.

The teams now have the following wins:

USA 3 Uruguay 2 Italy 2 Japan 1 South Africa 1 India 0 - see results table below

If USA win their last two matches then they will be the champions but if they were to lose any both Uruguay and Italy could also be in a position to also possibly win. With USA and Uruguay scheduled to meet on the final Friday the result of the tournament will be almost certainly still be open until after that day’s play.  Following on from the days play, the players were treated to a kimono experience where they were dressed up in the traditional kimono by students from Yamano Beauty College.  Photos from the days play and the Kimono experience can be viewed here

Thursdays matches:

Italy v Japan

USA v South Africa

Uruguay v India

IC junior result 2018_10102018.xlsx