India gears up for third edition of Rendez-vous a Roland-Garros

The 'Rendez-Vous a Roland-Garros in partnership with Longines' returns to India for its third edition which will be played across three cities.

The tournament gets underway with the first qualifier in Kolkata followed by the second in Pune. The final culmination of the tournament will take place in New Delhi. Kolkata is hosting a Roland Garros event for the first time, and the selected players from the city shall get a chance to try their luck in the finals to be hosted in Delhi on April 18 and 19.

The tournament confirms Roland Garros' and AITA'S collaborative effort to organize grassroots championships of international repute in India and foster the development of clay court tennis to find future stars.

Kolkata's historic Dakshin Kalikata Sansad shall witness the qualifiers under the supervision of experienced French coach Bernard Pestre who is the Deputy Technical Director of FFT and heads their "Formation and Enseignement" (Training and Education) Department. Kolkata have been instrumental in producing many young talents who have represented the nation in the junior levels. The qualifiers will give an opportunity to U-18 players to have a MasterClass under the guidance of Pestre, who has been associated with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) since 1984.

A clinic was conducted for the media with the aim of promoting clay court tennis. 'Rendez-Vous a Roland-Garros in partnership with Longines' has served as a perfect platform for budding tennis talents from India as they get the opportunity to compete against the best from USA, Japan, China, Brazil and South Korea. Further, the winners of the competition will get a chance to participate in the Junior French Open as wild-card entrants.

"Over the years, India has consistently produced good talent. The 'Rendez-Vous a Roland-Garros in partnership with Longines' aims to propel the upcoming talent in a way which would put the country on the world map. It also gives the youngsters a great chance of learning about clay courts, and potentially going on to excel at the French Open in future," said President of FFT Bernard Giudicelli.

"We are extremely proud to be hosting the 1st qualifiers of the Rendez-Vous a Roland Garros in partnership with Longines, An event of such stature and global presence shall do wonders for growth of tennis in the city. It has been our aim to have a strong grass-root development program for the city kids and with initiatives like these, I think we are on the right track towards escalating the popularity of the sport in the city." said Hironmoy Chatterjee, Secy Gen AITA and President BTA.

Unwavering support from AITA and The Bengal Tennis has successfully ensued the commencement of Rendez-vous a Roland Garros in partnership with Longines becomes an event to remember.

The city qualifiers will see top talent vying for a spot in the Masters' event which will be played in New Delhi on 18th and 19th April 2017.