Tourte, 38 years old and a referee since she was 23, is one of 13 women to have the Gold Badge, the “license” to be able to referee in the most important tournaments in the world, such as the Slams but also the Masters 1000. For this reason, we find it on the chairs of the most important clubs in the world, such as Melbourne Park, the Country Club of Monte Carlo or Flushing Meadows, where in 2020 it disqualified Novak Djokovic – but any other “chair umpire” would have done so – for having thrown a ball against a line judge in the US Open match against Spaniard Carreno Busta.
He travels the world, Aurelie, and will continue to do so, also because no referee has ever made a mistake in his life. «You always want to give your best in every match you play – she declared in an interview a few months ago on the ATP channels, composed of questions from fans -. On the pitch, the most difficult thing to manage is the pressure, also because you have a few seconds to make a decision.”
But there is also another difficulty that Tourte underlined, off the pitch: «Travelling. We are lucky to travel all over the world, meeting many different people and visiting different countries. But you can feel the distance from home.” Tourte is involved in around 20 tournaments a year, at all latitudes: this is the reason why she had to significantly reduce the commitment to what was her main profession, the nurse. “In the last three years I have gone to hospital less, but as far as possible I will try to combine my commitments.”
When asked how one becomes an international level referee, Tourte replied: «You start with the national path, then you gain experience. It starts with knowing the rules.” He knows the rules very well, but even “Gold Badges” make mistakes, and Jannik Sinner has experienced it firsthand.
