French men's tennis - what's wrong?

[El Dude]

In part 13 of my Open Era Generations series, I mentioned the disappointing careers of top French tennis players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, and Richard Gasquet, and what seems to be a trend of under-performance among male French tennis players. I just discovered a stat that really highlights this:

*In the Open Era, only one Slam has been won by a French male player, Yannick Noah at the 1983 French Open. During that same span of time, French boys have won *20* boys singles Slam titles.

So think about that conversion rate: 20 boy's Slam titles, 1 men's title. Clearly something is amiss, as no other country has a rate anything like that.

From 1973 to the present, French boys have won more Slam titles (20) than any country other than Australia (29) and the United States (26). But consider that during the Open Era, the US has won 51 men's Slams and 20 by Australia.

So here's the question: Why does France have such a poor "conversion rate?" Why aren't these talented boy's turning into Slam winning men?

Here are the French boy's who won Slams from 1973 to the present:

3 - Gael Monfils
2 - Richard Gasquet
1 - Christophe Casa, Christophe Roger-Vasselin, Henri Leconte, Thierry Tulasne, Tarik Benhabiles, Fabrice Santoro, Olivier Mutis, Arnaud di Pasquale, Julien Jeanpierre, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Nicolas Mahut, Clement Morel, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Jeremy Chardy, Alexandre Sidorenko

 

[GameSetAndMath]

With Gasquet, they did a huge hype (he was in the cover of French magazines) when he was a teenager itself. That itself might have stunted his growth. The media should keep away from budding pros to make sure that they are grounded in reality or else at least their team should do it.

 

[El Dude]

If you remove the hype, Gasquet's actually had a pretty good career - certainly better than most on that list.

At some point I might do an in-depth study, look at players who won junior Slams, players who won men's Slams, and then players who won both - and see if there are any trends.

 

[Fiero425]

Like the US, do they rely on their veterans too much and neglect the juniors? Forget it, our vets stink too! ;-)

 

[secrettennisjunkie]

If you remove the hype, Gasquet's actually had a pretty good career - certainly better than most on that list.

At some point I might do an in-depth study, look at players who won junior Slams, players who won men's Slams, and then players who won both - and see if there are any trends.

I'd be interested if you did something like that, I've thought about doing it a few times but haven't made the time yet.

 

[Front242]

Yannick Noah covered this in detail. They don't have the "magic potion". Guess they're clean and can't compete with the dopers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/atptour/8902968/David-Ferrer-and-others-pour-scorn-over-Yannick-Noahs-zany-magic-potion-doping-claims.html

http://plus.lefigaro.fr/note/legalizing-the-magic-potion-in-the-sports-world-20111121-605195

 

[El Dude]

Hmm. I didn't read the article, but that seems rather nationalistic and arrogant.

 

[BalaryKar]

If you remove the hype, Gasquet's actually had a pretty good career - certainly better than most on that list.

I don't get better than whom? Tsonga? Monfils? At the slams, I am of the impression that Tsonga has better scalps.

 

[El Dude]

If you remove the hype, Gasquet's actually had a pretty good career - certainly better than most on that list.

I don't get better than whom? Tsonga? Monfils? At the slams, I am of the impression that Tsonga has better scalps.

Those are two names of twenty listed, nineteen of whom are not Gasquet. So technically, "most on that list" would be 10 or more. I think Gasquet has had a better career than at least ten of those names.

 

[BalaryKar]

Those are two names of twenty listed, nineteen of whom are not Gasquet. So technically, "most on that list" would be 10 or more. I think Gasquet has had a better career than at least ten of those names.

Agreed.

 

[Haelfix]

I think its pretty obvious what happened to them. They entered their primes (age 22-23) in 2008-2009 which was the beginning of the big 4 era, Nadal was at his absolute best and Federer was still pretty good.

The french players were really good on clay and grass moreso than hards (which was much more stacked) and probably would have ended up with a chance for a slam there in a different era. But between Nadal who had an absolute unbreakable stranglehold on the French and Fedal on grass, there were slim pickings.

Bad luck for them. There best chance and really only window was in 2010, which was a relative down year quality wise, and it was before Novaks ascent.

 

[El Dude]

Haelfix, that only addresses the recent guys, but only partially so - it doesn't account for why Gasquet and Monfils only have ATP 250s and no ATP 500 titles, for instance. But more so, and back to my original point, the French have 20 boy's Slam titles and only 1 men's. Compare that to some other countries, sorted by most boy's titles, with five or more (Open Era):

Australia: 35 -> 20
USA: 27 -> 51
France: 20 -> 1
Sweden: 16 -> 25
German: 6 -> 7
Argentina: 6 -> 6
Spain: 7 -> 21
Switzerland: 5 -> 19
Czech Republic: 5 -> 12
Italy: 5 -> 1
India: 5 -> 0

Now let's look at so-called "conversion rates," meaning the percentage of men's Slams to boys' Slams:

380% Switzerland
300% Spain
240% Czech
189% USA
156% Sweden
117% Germany
100% Argentina
57% Australia
20% Italy
5% France
0% India

I think we can forgive India and Italy, given that they only have five boys' titles.

The point being, France is way below everyone else. Their success on the junior circuit just hasn't translated to the ATP.

 

[Kieran]

They have a reputation for mental enfeeblement when the going gets tough. Anyone who disputes that the mental aspect is important in tennis need only look at the French blokes and see how wrong they are...

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

the French have a rich recent history of mental enfeeblement.

all that talent and only Tsonga masters titles as big tourney wins between them ?..they can't even win the davis cup.

yep, its a shambles. btw does yannick noah still look like 80s/90s era ruud gullit and that dreadlocked bloke out of the Thompson twins in the 80s ?

 

[Busted]

Is there anything more wrong with French Men's tennis than American tennis - men AND women? I don't know why anyone is surprised by the drop off. There's just too many other activities out their kids to get involved with these days. Instead of going outside to play a sport their butts are glued in front of the computer screen playing games and their hands are glued to their phones posting on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.

 

[El Dude]

Because American men's tennis has still produced 51 Slams, to France's 1. Now its an unfair comparison given the size of the countries, but as I said above, it is also a matter of ratio: the USA has produced 27 junior titles to 51 men's; France has produced 20 juniors to only 1 men's. You'd think that, given the number of successful French junior players, there would be at least half a dozen or a dozen Slams.

There's hope on the horizon for America, by the way. Taylor Fritz looks like a potential Slam winner, and possibly Frances Tiafoe. Jared Donaldson, Noah Rubin, Tommy Paul, and Michael Mmoh all have potential.

For French players, Quentin Halys and Lucas Pouille show some promise.