Basil, Sathwika in line to get wild card for jr French Open

Basil Khuma and Sathwika Sama emerged winners of the ‘Rendez-Vous’, an under-18 competition, to earn a chance for wild card entry into the junior French Open.

‘Rendez-Vous’ is a joint initiative of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and French Tennis Federation (FTT) to help junior players earn an opportunity to play in the red clay Grand Slam event.

Top-16 boys and girls competed in the event from April 1 to 4 and eventually 17-year-old Basil from Mizoram won the boys event with a 6-3 6-4 win over Alex Solanki in the final.

The 15-year-old Hyderabadi, Sathwika beat Jennifer Luikham 6-3 6-4 to win the girls competition.

The winners of the national stage will now compete against other national champions from China and Brazil on May 24 in Paris. The playoff matches to win the wild cards for the French Open will be held on the Champ-de-Mars, right in front of the iconic Eiffel Tower.

Shanghai, China has already hosted the Rendez-Vous in March and Sao Paulo, Brazil will follow this month.