At the Roland-Garros tennis tournament in Paris, the ball boys’ races and gestures seem to be regulated like a ballet. Enzo Fombeur had been selected from among five thousand candidates to be part of the panel for the 2024 edition (from May 20 to June 9). Exchanges.
The ball boys at Roland Garros have a reputation for being the best in the world. I trained for a year to get there.
Enzo Fombeur
Can you introduce yourself ?
Enzo Fombeur : “I’m 16, I live in Jardres and I’m in 10th grade at Camille-Guérin high school in Poitiers. In tennis, I’m a member of US Chauvigny and ranked 30/1.”
How were you selected?
“I have already been collecting for 3 years at the Internationaux femmes de la Vienne. There, I first took part in a pre-selection in Bordeaux (Gironde) with 150 candidates. We did exercises, learned the technique of rolling the ball… There were 8 of us taken for a training course with a role-play in La Grande-Motte (Hérault). This time, 29 candidates out of 54 were taken. In total, on the different selection sites, 250 ball collectors were recruited for Roland-Garros out of 5,000 candidates.”
The ball roll: a very technical exercise well mastered by Enzo Fombeur.
© Photo Laurent Fombeur
What did that mean to you?
“For me, it was a dream. Roland-Garros is the Holy Grail. Its ball boys have a reputation for being the best in the world. I trained for a year to get there.”
Your schooling has not been disrupted?
“The 2nd year is the ideal year to do it, we don’t have any exams. A document from the federation allows us to justify this three-week absence.”
“It allowed me to grow, to better manage my emotions”
What qualities are needed?
“You need dynamism. As soon as you move a toe, you have to be at 10,000%, very focused, always anticipating. What makes the difference is the quality of the ball rolls. Good rolls are missiles. When you catch them, it hurts your fingers.”
Did you pick up every day?
“Almost. Every evening, in a notebook, I wrote down the score of the matches where I collected the players, their rankings, anecdotes. The best matches were at the end with a semi-final between the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and the Italian Jannik Sinner and the women’s final between the Polish Iga Swiatek and the Italian Jasmine Paolini, and the men’s doubles final too.”
Enzo Fombeur created a photo montage in a frame to remember the best moments of his Roland-Garros tournament.
© Photo NR-CP
Why were you chosen for these big posters?
“We are constantly graded by a supervisor, who debriefs us to correct certain behaviors. They average the grades obtained each day and as I was among the thirty-six best, I was designated for these matches.”
Have you often picked up on the central?
“I spent my last three days on it. It’s really impressive. And I was lucky enough to do the last night session (night match), a quarter-final between the German Zverev and the Australian De Minaur. It was incredible.
Are the players nice?
“Some are, some less so. De Minaur is very nice. Zverev, he is not mean to us but he is quite cold. Alcaraz, I really liked, he is incredible to pick up, super nice to us. I took pictures with him. In training, I also picked up for Andy Murray, the former world number 1. I loved it.”
What did this experience bring you?
“It allowed me to grow, to better manage my emotions, me who is someone who is naturally stressed. And physically, since I trained a lot, I progressed. There will be tons of memories too. Later, I would like to become a ball boy supervisor. It has almost become a passion.”
Why will we find you as a ball boy at the Paris-Bercy tournament (from October 26 to November 3)?
“For being ranked among the best ball collectors at Roland-Garros. And after that, it will be over, I won’t be able to collect anymore. That’s until I’m 16…”
Enzo Fombeur, in his official outfit, brought back to the family home a trophy reserved for ball boys.
© Photo NR-CP
2024-07-04 14:21:00
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