Roland-Garros 1978, life after tennis and mental preparation

I was full of confidence that year. I had won Nice, Monte-Carlo and Naples just beforehand, all on clay. Drawing Florența Mihai in the first round was no gift, but mentally I knew I could beat her. And quite often, it is better to face a seeded player in the first round than later in the tournament. The match was very tough, but that victory opened up the draw for me and I believed in my chances all the way. In the end, I would say that I had prepared myself mentally to go deep into the tournament.

Opening the tennis shop in Caen was more of an opportunity than a long-term career choice. In 1978, my priority was still my playing career, and reaching a Roland-Garros semi-final makes you want to carry on, even though our training conditions and support were limited. Financially, it was difficult. The Federation did not contribute to our travel and accommodation costs, except for the Fed Cup. As for ending my career, I met my future husband in 1978, and the desire to start a family eventually felt like the obvious choice.

After my playing career, I first became a coach and then sports director at Tennis Club de Caen for around ten years. The constant turnover of club presidents and a toxic working atmosphere eventually pushed me to resign. I was angry with the tennis world and no longer wanted to work in it. That is why I turned professionally to other fields, without much success. Those different experiences allowed me to develop other skills. It is always enriching to step outside your comfort zone and take on new challenges.

This is my favourite question. I have often said that if I had possessed the experience I now pass on in mental preparation, I would probably have been better prepared for that semi-final and therefore performed better. I would teach her to use breathing as a crucial tool for concentration and for analysing any situation during a match. I would teach her to visualise every match before playing it, either as a spectator or as an actor in the film of her potential victory. I would teach her the importance of feedback, which can only really be done when you are well supported. I would teach her to prepare for every match with the same routine and the same seriousness, regardless of the opponent. I would teach her to reduce the importance she gives to either defeat or victory — and to keep going back to the work, again and again.

Mental preparation can help you manage precisely that fear which can paralyse you when the stakes are high, although it is never a miracle cure. You can start a match very well and then suddenly the momentum changes — so what do you do? Those are the moments when you have to open your treasure chest. Mental preparation cannot be improvised. It has to be trained just as much as the physical or technical side. It is a path you have to travel.

There has been enormous progress. Women today can earn a very good living. But the structural problem remains for hundreds of male and female players trying to break into the professional circuit. I believe the money is poorly distributed, and without support from federations it is very difficult to finance the beginning of a career.

I think my generation still has a great deal to pass on. The underlying mechanisms of training and performance remain the same, even though attitudes have changed — and not always for the better. The mental dimension is becoming more and more present and unavoidable, but the fundamentals have not changed, and we sometimes tend to forget them. Physical preparation has progressed enormously since my time and has become much more specifically adapted to the needs of tennis players. And even if experience only illuminates the road already travelled, what we have lived through, the difficulties we faced and our own journey give credibility to what we say to the younger generation and can help them save time in pursuing their own goals.

From my point of view, a trajectory is successful when you have gone as far as you possibly could with yourself, your abilities and your potential — with no regrets.