While the matches were played outside on the famous terre battue of Roland Garros on almost every court, inside, preparations were being carried out for a celebration in the Presidential Box of the main court named after the legendary French and ITF president Philippe Chatrier.
The relevance of this was provided by an event 76 years ago, when the greatest male tennis player of Hungary, József Asbóth triumphed in the hottest Grand Slam final of all time (42°C) and won the French Open tennis championship. At that time, in 1947, the congratulations were not accompanied by a trophy, the champions received it from 1981.
To make up for this lack, the French tennis federation donated a silver commemorative plaque with an engraved version of the Musketeers’ trophy, thereby expressing their sincere respect for the first Hungarian and also the first Eastern European male Grand Slam champion in men’s singles.
The former women’s world number one, two-time Grand Slam champion and Hall of Famer, Amélie Mauresmo, who serves currently as the tournament director of Roland Garros, presented the plaque of historical importance to Hungarian (tennis) sport, to Andras Ruszanov, the tennis historian and representative of the Asboth family. As the manager of the Asbóth heritage, in his thank-you speech in French, revived some of the stages, successes and milestones of Asbóth’s career. Afterwards, Gilles Moretton, the president of the French tennis federation, praised the success of Asbóth and the Hungarian players who followed him.
French tennis legends Henri Leconte and Patrick Proisy, the 1988 and 1972 finalists of Roland Garros, as well as Mansour Bahrami, the great showman, honoured the ceremony with their presence, as well as Dániel Gyurta, the gold medalist breaststroker of the London Olympics, was there to represent the Hungarian government and sports diplomacy.
György Szöllősi, the vice-president of AIPS Europe, participated in this outstanding prestigious event, representing the international association of sports journalists. He was also involved in his position as Puskás ambassador, because the close friendship between the celebrated József Asbóth and Ferenc Puskás was well-known and documented.
The Hungarian Tennis Association was represented by vice president László Markovits and general secretary Csilla Sütő.
Credit: AIPS Media
