New Delhi: The four-time French Open winner Justine Henin will visit the city for the fifth edition of the ‘Roland-Garros Junior Wild Card Series’, to be held here from April 29 to May 1.
The legendary tennis star will be on a two-day trip, where she will watch the young Indian players in action on the clay courts and host a tennis clinic with the youngsters.
The competition returns to the country for a fifth consecutive year, the French Tennis Federation (FFT), organisers of the world’s premier clay court event – Roland-Garros, in association with the All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced Friday.
The competition, to be held at the clay courts of the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA), will provide a clay court tennis experience to the young talents of India, and promote the same at the grassroots level.
The former World No.1 women’s player Henin, who won the French Open in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, said she was looking forward to the ‘Roland-Garros Junior Wild Card Series’.
“It has been a dream for me to visit India, and when the French Tennis Federation (FFT) proposed this opportunity, I couldn’t say no. I have a huge admiration for young Indian talent, and I am looking forward to working with them and seeing them in action,” Henin said.
There will be a total of eight players each from the boys’ and girls’ categories who will earn qualification to the wild card playoffs of the Junior draws at Roland-Garros 2019 in Paris. The top-8 boys and girls in the AITA rankings will be chosen to participate in the competition.
This will give the winners an opportunity to compete against the best junior players from China, Brazil and India.
PTI