SBNN OPEN, first edition
Even before Summer Body No Need was created, the founding members were in contact with young people. Growing up in the tradition of neighbourhood tournaments, often involving football and also basketball, we thought that diversifying the range of sports might create an interest amongst the youth. So we made good use of our network, and tried to gather as many 11 to 15 year old youngsters as possible. Not an easy thing to do, even if you plan it in advance...
The first obstacle was the timetable! Once we had the idea, we needed to find a date. The date had to be convenient for the potential participants, and given that we were dealing with minors, we also had to pay attention to their parents' schedules. So there we had it, July 1st. The beginning of summer, the holidays, the longer days, and the good weather. The perfect recipe for an outdoor event.
All we needed then was the venue. Although there are plenty of free-access football pitches in our cities, the situation is quite different when it come to tennis courts. For your information, most tennis courts belong to clubs and must therefore be booked in agreement with them and according to their availability. It is hard to organise a one-day tournament in such conditions. Thanks to Alissa Cullet at Créteil's Youth and Culture Department (Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture de Créteil, or MJC), we got in touch with Paul-Émilien Le Jean, coordinator at the MJC du Mont Mesly. This is a place where you can find a cinema, a dance hall and lots of activities for all ages, but above all, what interests us the most: 4 tennis courts. Perfect for our project! These courts are freely accessible, and we invite all tennis fans to come and enjoy a special and pleasant playing surface, but above all a warm and caring environment.
After several months of preparation, the tournament date was changed to Wednesday, June 28 for practical reasons. What seemed to be the most suitable day for all our participants turns out to be the date of a religious celebration... and so we understood that some of our planned participants could not make it to the tournament. But we do hope that they will be able to participate in the future edition. Nothing to get discouraged about, a buffet, a microphone and a loudspeaker and off we went! With the enormous help of Axel Selimaj and Paul-Émilien we were able to set up the first edition of the SBNN OPEN! With rackets and balls at our disposal, players had nothing more to do other than attend the event of the year.
The players: we were expecting just over half a dozen players to take part in this tournament, following the withdrawal of some players due to injuries, and the resignation of others for family commitments. Eliott, Rafael, Viktor, Evan, Noam, Gabriel and Léo arrived. With our players all present and warmed up, we draw the Raonic and Alcaraz groups.
The format was simple: 2 groups, with the top two players in each group qualifying for the semi-finals. So in the Raonic pool we had Rafael, Léo, Noam and Eliott. In the Alcaraz pool, Viktor, Gabriel and Evan. The 3-game matches in the group phase were the occasion to discover the specific qualities of each player. The knockout stages were played out over 6 games with a tie-break.
The games
Eliott against Noam on court 2: an even match to open the tournament, with Noam winning.
Meanwhile, Viktor and Evan, on court 1, faced off in Viktor's first match. Viktor had taken advantage of this event to initiate himself to tennis. Evan wins! The duel between the best player of the last Condorcet generation, Rafael, and the best player of the new Condorcet generation, Léo, ended with a victory for the younger of the two, Léo.
Gabriel and Viktor on court 1, an important match in a group of 3 players, since if Viktor loses, qualification is assured for Gabriel and Evan. And despite Viktor's fighting spirit in his first tournament, his journey came to a halt in this second match.
This is an important match for Léo, who can qualify for the next round in his match against Eliott.
Always a step ahead, Léo wins and already knows that he will face Gabriel or Evan in his his semi-final.
Rafael also won, against Noam, and gained a chance to qualify against Eliott.
Gabriel and Evan, who come from the same club, go head to head. Evan takes advantage of the opposition to take first place in the group.
If we know who is first in the Alcaraz group, Léo confirms his position in the group Raonic against Noam, without conceding a game in any of his 3 matches.
In the final group match, Rafael qualified against Eliott and took second place in the group. which means we can go on to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals
Gabriel v Léo
The top player in the Raonic group against the runner-up in the Alcaraz group. Two players of the same age, both competing for a place in the final. After a quick snack to cool off, Gabriel unfortunately came back a little bloated, and you could feel it from the first few balls... We certainly don't want to make excuses for him against the monster of the day, but that may explain why his performance was a little below expectations. As for Léo, he had no trouble getting through to the final as quickly as possible. In the end, Gabriel just missed out, as if his match had been lost in advance despite having shown his fighting spirit in the group matches, especially against Evan, who was considerably better than him.
Rafael v Evan
Wasn't this our real final? Physically, Rafael and Evan are about the same size, the same age, with opposing styles, one moving around a lot and the other playing with power. The kind of opposition that makes for great matches. And there was no shortage of it. And yet it was a one-sided match from the start, with the score quickly rising to 4-0 for Evan, who even took the liberty of commenting "Is that your champion?", enough to get the whole crowd going.The tension was palpable from that moment on, and the cheers went up for Rafael. Slacking off? A burst of pride? No one knows what happened, perhaps the support of the crowd, but whatever it was, Rafael finally got back into the match and came back to 4-4. As if to add to the drama, Evan asked Axel for advice during the refreshment break, but in the end he had to find the solutions on his own. It makes you want to see this match over 2 sets, when you see the mental strength of the two young players.
The third-place match: Rafael v Gabriel
The match for third place is usually less intense than the others, but between Rafael and Gabriel it's quite the opposite. The match was played over 4 games, so as not to take up too much of our time. But in the end, it's the last match of the day. When the winner of the tournament was already known, the two players were battling it out for the last place on the podium.
Although Rafael had a clear power advantage, he was playing against a wall, with Gabriel throwing everything back at him.
It was a tie-break that decided the match. Before the eyes of all the participants, Rafael finally concludes after another signature serve, the man who wanted to leave after losing to Evan in the semi-final. So he goes home with a magnificent trophy, and we'll be waiting for him again at the next edition to see how his devastating serve develops.
The final: Léo v Evan
After two different routes, it's Léo and Evan who find themselves in the final. Once again, the difference in physique is striking, but as we know, Léo is not afraid of anyone.
Marked by his big battle in the semi-finals, which is also the magic of one-day tournaments, Evan started the match by showing off his ground cover. He tried to deal with all the balls, returning them one by one before being overwhelmed. Léo's particular strength in dealing with each of his opponents is more apparent than ever, he leaves no room for error. That's what tennis players are all about - consistency. So it was without conceding a game
Léo went on to win the final 6-0 and the whole tournament 21-0. A phenom! The bar is high, but Evan is already looking forward to the next edition, where he promises to take more than one game from the champion.
Paul-Émilien took the stage in front of the crowd to thank us for all our hard work in putting on this event. We'd like to thank him once again, as well as all the actors, participants and other people who accompanied us on this first adventure.
It's also worth mentioning our mistress of ceremonies, Chloé, who took the microphone to present the podium for the day.
