TEACHING TENNIS IN FRANCE:

About the Book

I decided to write this book during the Covid pandemic, a period during which teaching tennis was made impossible due to severe restrictions especially in Hong Kong China where I have lived for 13 years. The book was fi rst published in French during French Open 2023, a year celebrating the 40th anniversary of our last Grand Slam Champion: Yannick Noah. On June 5th, 1983, Yannick beat Swedish player and defending champion Mats Wilander, while I was celebrating my 12th birthday. An amazing gift for me, who had started tennis one year earlier ! I have interviewed more than 100 former players, coaches, tennis consultants, agents and journalists and I have analyzed the French Tennis Federation and the national press archives. Both my knowledge in history (bachelor from La Sorbonne University in 1993) and my passion for tennis which I started teaching in 1991, enabled me to understand and explain the evolution of teaching methods in France, but not only. Tennis was fi rst born in Europe and later spread in America and the rest of the world. Spending 6 summers in Florida at IMG Bollettieri (2004-2009) considered in the 90’s as the “Mecca of tennis” made me discover a diff erent approach when it comes to coaching: while Frenchies seemed mostly focused on both the technical and the tactical aspects of the game, I noticed that training sessions in the US focused more on the physical and mental ones. Being a former coach trainer for the French Tennis Federation and a professional coach for the last 22 years (9 years in France, 13 years in Hong Kong China), enabled me to connect with professionals from all other the globe. Many of them seemed very interested in the French teaching method which is why I have decided to write this book in the fi rst place.

About the Author

Nicolas Stanajic Petrovic is a 53-year-old French professional tennis coach with a passion for history. He began teaching tennis in 1991 while studying history at La Sorbonne University Paris IV (bachelor in 1993). Nicolas very quickly developed a passion for teaching tennis and followed the entire French Tennis Federation training program: level 1 assistant coach in 1991, then level 2 in 1993. He obtained the common core of the National coaching license in 1996 while preparing for the exam to become a history teacher. After 1 year training in a national center near Paris, Nicolas graduated top of the national exam in June 2001 (200 candidates) to become a fully French Professional tennis coach level 1. After becoming tennis director in a club near Paris, he obtained level 2 certifi cation (equivalent to a master’s degree) after 2 years training in 2 diff erent centers in the Paris area. After that Nicolas was appointed by a consultancy cabinet to become coach’s trainer for Paris center. Nicolas left France in May 2011 to go teach tennis in Hong Kong. He was appointed by TennisAsia, a tennis coaching service provider company in the Chinese city-state. He has been teaching for 13 years now at the Ladies Recreation Club (LRC), a very prestigious centenary country club created in 1883 by the British. Nicolas is now assistant tennis director and oversees the adult program at the LRC. He manages more than 200 players every week and no less than 10 coaches from 5 diff erent continents. Until this day, he has given more than 15,000 hours of tennis lessons to members of over 60 diff erent nationalities. Nicolas recognizes the excellence of the French training system and wishes to explain its origins and developments through this book.