Former women’s singles number one Amelie Mauresmo was on Thursday named director of the French Open, replacing Guy Forget.
Mauresmo will be in place until at least 2024, French tennis federation president Gilles Moretton said, according to AFP.
A two-time Grand Slam winner (Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006) and 2004 Olympic singles silver medallist in Athens, the 42-year-old Mauresmo expressed her “pride” at being named director of Roland Garros, the premier claycourt tournament in the world and federation’s principal source of revenue.
“I am very proud to join the Roland Garros team,” she said. “I have accepted the position of Tournament Director with clear ambitions. I will carry them out with the same high standards, freedom and passion that have always driven me.”
Mauresmo is the first woman to take up the role of Tournament Director at Roland Garros.
Forget, who’d been in place since 2016 and also overseen the Paris Masters since 2012, was nearing the end of his contract but turned down potential offers, according to Moretton.
Welcome, @AmeMauresmo 🤩
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) December 9, 2021
Bienvenue à Amélie Mauresmo, la nouvelle directrice de #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/ekmKSoETRx
Symmetry: For the first time, two of the four tournament directors at the Grand Slam events are women
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) December 9, 2021
Stacey Allaster at the US Open
Amélie Mauresmo at the French Open/Roland Garros pic.twitter.com/GrfBFxWN5O
With AFP inputs