Don’t say we didn’t warn you. The rising stars who will be at work at Roland Garros in the coming years can be seen at work in their own country until Saturday, more specifically at the Astrid Bowl in Charleroi.
Apart from the European Open in Antwerp, Belgium no longer has an absolute top tournament for the professionals, among the juniors a large part of the up-and-coming world top has been coming to Charleroi for more than 50 years, to “Le Astrid TC”, the Center de Délassement the Marcinelle.
The first Astrid Bowl was hosted there in 1967. We are now ready for edition 57. To give you an impression: in recent years, 5 later world numbers 1 for men and 7 numbers 1 for women were on the list of participants of the Astrid Bowl.
Their names? Federer, Hewitt, Kuerten, Muster and Rios. Among the women: Navratilova, Capriati, Henin, Clijsters, Azarenka, Kerber and Barty. But who else passed by? All Belgians, of course, with Goffin, Malisse, Clijsters and Henin in the lead. But also Krajicek, Wawrinka, Simon, Forget, Tsonga, Ostapenko, Stosur, Zverev, Fish, …
In 2019, Leilah Fernandez, the losing finalist of last year’s US Open, played and lost the title match.
(Read on below the photo.)
Leylah Fernandez (l) in 2019.
Due to place on the calendar, some toppers drop out
In total, more than 10,000 talented tennis players from more than 100 countries have already participated in the Astrid Bowl. Why? Because the Astrid Bowl is an international benchmark. Anyone who does well there has something to offer and can dream of a career as a top tennis player.
It is quite useful to briefly outline the competition system for international youth. The juniors also have their grand slams. These will be completed during the second week of the tournament for the pros. And in the past there were quite a few Belgian victories. Nancy Feber won Wimbledon, Kirsten Flipkens won Wimbledon and the US Open, Ann-Sophie Mestach won in Melbourne and Justine Henin and Kimmer Coppejans won Roland Garros.
At the beginning of this year, Sofia Costoulas lost the final at the Australian Open.
Below that you have the Youth Olympics, the Junior Masters and the Grade A and
Grade 1 through 5 tournaments. Charleroi is Grade 1. And that means that there are many points to be gained for the world ranking for the juniors. And so a lot of people come.
Year after year, Charleroi puts down a fantastic organization in a great setting. The tournament has an excellent reputation worldwide.
Charleroi’s Grade 1 is a blessing these days, but also a curse. Tom Devries, technical director at Tennis Vlaanderen, explains. “Year after year, Charleroi puts down a fantastic organization in a great environment. The tournament has an excellent reputation worldwide. So we would like to participate there with our Belgian talents and have often done so.”
“The International federation has also asked Charleroi to upgrade to the Grade A class. But then the tournament has to move and the organization does not want that. And that is precisely the problem, also for us. Charleroi is squeezed between the Grade A tournament of Milan and Roland Garros.”
“If you enter for the prizes, and we have a number of players now, then you have the final on Saturday and Roland Garros already starts on Sunday. That’s why many players who did well in Milan last week cancel.
for Charleroi, also because they want to train in Paris on Friday.”
No Costoulas in Charleroi this year because she is aiming for Paris
For example, this year the Belgian contenders for a good result in Paris will not participate in Charleroi. And there are quite a few. Among the girls, top talent Sofia Costoulas (2nd in the world junior ranking), Hanne Vandewinkel (23rd) and Amelie van Impe (42nd) are not participating.
And for the boys, Gilles Arnaud Bailly (20th) and Alexander Blockx (32nd) go all out for Paris.
Tom Devries: “It is a pity that we are not in Charleroi with our top juniors, but we have a good group of juniors, just like about ten years ago, who have the potential to grow into pros with a view to a top 100. That is why we are aiming for Roland Garros.”
“Our results in the grand slams, in the Grade A and Grade 1 tournaments are really a barometer of where they can be in 5 or 6 years.”
“But for yet another group of Belgian youngsters with potential, I am thinking for example of Alessio Basille and Amelia Waligora, Charleroi is a real benchmark because of the great competition. Today the Astrid Bowl is a huge start for our best 14 and 15 year old girls and 15 and 16 year old boys.”
Dirk Gerlo
