Bonjour, Racketlonners! Get ready for the IWT French Open that starts this Friday, in the host city of the 2024 Olympic Games.
Ternon favourite at home
World no 2 Sylvain Ternon is the favourite for this year’s French Open. The Frenchman made the final last year, losing to World Champion Luke Griffiths after a tense match. This year he comes in as the top seed and will have high hopes to lift the title on home soil. His first opponent is the very experienced Christian Schaefer.
Dutchman Koen Hageraats is the no 3 seed for this event, he is also in the top half of the draw. He plays Matěj Volf to face either Kevin Ng or Damien Andre. Ng versus Andre will be an exciting matchup as they are very close in ranking.
The other first round match on the top half of the draw will be between wildcards Alex du Noyer and Thomas Cavé. We’re happy to see Thomas is back in action after getting injured at the World Doubles Championships last year.
Nicolas Lenggenhager is the no 2 seed and plays his first match against Matt Davidson. The last time they played was in 2022 when Matt won (14-21 19-21 21-13 21-9). This will also be one of the matches to watch on Saturday. World no 16 Duncan Stahl will play French junior no 1 Lucas Steyer, whilst Michal Kurek plays tournament director Josselin Gadé in the first round, after Henrik Mustonen had to withdraw.
Polish Open Champion René Lindberg is the no 4 seed and plays world no 13 Anthony Duthuillé. The matches will kick off on Saturday at 9AM GMT +2.
Cavé aims for a second IWT title
After winning the IWT Club La Santa in December, Pauline Cavé will be looking to add another title to her collection. Her first international racketlon tournament was in Paris last year, and she’s climbed up the rankings to world no 15!
It won’t be easy, as she has to battle past top seeds Kaptein and Kilchenmann, as well as Aurélie Haurant and Fabienne Dony. The women are playing in a round robin to determine who will lift the IWT French Open title.
Kaptein and Cavé face each other in their first match on Saturday, with Pauline leading 2-0 in the head-to-head. Aurélie Haurant plays Fabienne Dony, followed by Adeline Kilchenmann who will also play Dony in her first group match.
A lot of French interest in the doubles
With the tournament being in France, there are of course a lot of French players in the doubles. The tournament kicks off with the mixed doubles, where Pauline Cavé and Matt Davidson are top seeds. They will play French duo Haurant/Duthuillé. Adeline Kilchenmann partners up with Michal Kurek, they play second seeds Kaptein/Volf.
The women’s double is a round robin again, where Cavé/Kaptein will play their first doubles match together. They will also play as a pair at the World Doubles, as well as Dony and Kilchenmann. Kaptein and Kilchenmann played many tournaments together last season, and will find themselves on opposite sides of the net this time.
Cavé/Kaptein play their first match against Haurant/Maldre, and are set to play Dony/Kilchenmann at 3:20PM GMT +2.
Lenggenhager/Lindberg are top seeds for in the men’s elite doubles and are set to play Bishop/Du Noyer and Kurek/Michot in Group A. Davidson/Stahl are the second seeds and will face Hamon/Steyer (WC) and Cavé/Cocriamont.
Mixed Doubles | Women’s Doubles | Men’s Doubles
Don’t forget to check in on our social media channels, and @racketlonfrance for more updates during the tournament.