REPORTING. Tennis: Coco Gauff, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune… Behind the scenes of Patrick Mouratoglou’s champion factory

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Coco Gauff, Holger Rune, the Franco-Russian sensation Ksenia Efremova, the sisters Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova, or even Thijs Boogaard… In recent years, those who shine at the Petits As de Tarbes – the tournament where everyone meets the best young people (under 14 years old) on the planet – very often have one thing in common when they pass through the Pyrenees: they are covered by the Mouratoglou Academy.

That of Patrick, a renowned French coach on the world circuit – he was notably coach of Serena Williams, now takes care of Naomi Osaka – and a savvy businessman. An academy in its name with branches all over the world, a clothing line, skillful communication: the Mouratoglou brand aims to be that of excellence, in all areas.

33 courts, medical-sports center and a heliport

To get an idea of ​​what this school represents, this factory of champions, you have to go to the Alpes-Maritimes. In Biot more precisely, “an authentic Provençal city”, renowned for artisanal glass work, its Fernand Léger museum, but also known for housing part of Sophia-Antipolis, the “French Silicon Valley”.

An idyllic setting a stone’s throw from Antibes, also ideal for Tennis. It is here that eight years ago, Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy, founded in 1996, decided, after an initial life in the Paris region, to establish itself. And not just a little: 33 clay or hard tennis courts including 8 indoor ones, a state-of-the-art sports medical center, fitness rooms, an athletics track, 4 swimming pools including one in the shape of a racket, a spa , a 4-star hotel, a restaurant… In short, nothing was left to chance, everything was done on a grand scale. “There is even a landing zone for a helicopter, for professional players who want to avoid traffic jams from Monaco,” indicates the site’s public relations manager.

“If we can release a world number, that’s so much the better”

Because yes, the place is not just a “factory of champions”: it also serves as a base camp for several stars of the circuit. The Russian Daniil Medvedev has a few habits there, and during our visit, at the beginning of December, it was the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, 33^e in the WTA rankings, who was present to rehearse her ranges for the Australian Open with her coach Mathis Di Maio, who is none other than the technical coordinator of Patrick Mouratoglou’s foundation: Champ’seed (seed of champions ).

The latter aims to provide financial support to hand-picked talented young people whose families are not strong enough to afford such training. The Czech Fruhvirtova sisters, who won the Petits As one after the other in 2019 and 2020, notably come from this program. “The selection is not made before the age of 10, and we follow them up to the Top 100 in the world,” says Mathis Di Maio.

If tennis has the reputation of being an expensive passion, it’s true. At the Mouratoglou Academy, in addition to the beneficiaries of the foundation or the “Team Elite” à la carte program, the majority of residents are grouped together in what is called “tennis-studies”. Namely a school, with flexible schedules, from 6th grade to baccalaureate divided into two branches – one French, one international – which brings together 200 students and 45 nationalities. Allow €35,900 per year just for school and tennis lessons, without taking into account accommodation (between €14,750 and €25,000 depending on the formula).

Excellence has a price, of course, but the demands are numerous, to put it mildly. “Around 4,000 per year, for 60 places,” explains Alexis Catillon, director of tennis studies. “The purpose of the program is to succeed in placing them in American universities so that they can continue their studies while playing in tennis, he continues, if we can bring out a world number one, that’s so much the better, but for us, what we aim above all is to make these young people “top” people, fulfilled. thanks to tennis.”