A British player will this weekend feature in the final of the Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas – the annual eTennis (or tennis esports) tournament.
The grand final will see see eight finalists compete to become the 2022 eTennis world champion in a dedicated gaming area at the top of the prestigious Philippe-Chatrier court at Roland-Garros itself on Saturday May 21st 2022.
The finalists are as follows:
- William Foster (Fozzy) from Great Britain and Mark Riebe (MARC) from Switzerland (qualifiers from the first open general qualifier)
- Knut Ehrig (Knut) from Germany and Anass Benghazi (Anteo) from France (qualifiers from the second general qualifier)
- Maryam Sharafi (Myam) from Iran and Céline Lorente (Celine) from France (qualifiers from the Women in Games France female only qualifier)
- Benjamin Millot (Benjy) from France and Baptiste Verlaine (BaSsilA) from France (qualifiers from the XP School qualifier)
‘I hope to win the grand final and I believe in myself’
British player William Foster told Esports News UK:
“I started playing this game very casually as I am a huge tennis fan and I have played tennis since I was young.
“The game was very easy to become invested in as its gameplay emulates tactics close to real life. I found myself being more and more successful as I implemented my own tennis knowledge into the game, which in turn made all of the tactical battles with great players fun and exciting!
“I am very excited to go to Paris and compete in the grand final. It is going to be an amazing experience competing in the world famous Philippe-Chatrier court.
“I hope to win the grand final and I believe in myself, but as a huge tennis fan, no matter the outcome I will have a wonderful time!”
More info on the Roland-Garros eSeries
This year, the qualifying stages for Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas involved four separate qualifying events and saw a record-breaking number of participants sign-up for the tournament. 238,000+ entrants from 207 territories took part in one of the four qualifying competitions, with 1.66m+ matches played in total.
The record-breaking number of entrants follows the decision by the French Tennis Federation (FFT) to switch to a mobile esports tournament by partnering with popular mobile tennis game, Tennis Clash, from Wildlife Studios.
“Turning Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas into a mobile competition as well as collaborating with Tennis Clash allowed us to take our competition to the next level,” said Aymeric Labaste, head of Roland-Garros international development.
“All these excellent figures showed we could connect with a large audience on a global scale through an engaging Roland-Garros experience. eTennis is a growing discipline we believe in and I would like to warmly thank BNP Paribas and Renault as they play a key role by our side.”
“Turning Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas into a mobile competition as well as collaborating with Tennis Clash allowed us to take our competition to the next level.”
Aymeric Labaste, Rolland-Garros
In 2022, Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas partnered with Women in Games France to host a female only qualifying event. This was done to encourage more women to take part in esports competitions and guarantee two women the opportunity to play in the grand final.
Earlier this month, the two finalists from the WiG France qualifier, as well as the two finalists from the XP School qualifier, attended a two-day bootcamp experience with Team MCES, a French esports organisation at its gaming centre in Marseille, to prepare for the grand final.
“We are excited about this new partnership between Women in Games France and the French Tennis Federation (FFT). It’s fantastic that the FFT team have committed to create an environment more favourable for women, to increase female participation and to ensure at least two female competitors get access to the final stage of the competition,” said Morgane Falaize,
CEO at Women in Games France.
The grand final is scheduled to be broadcast live on Twitch by popular streamer Rivenzi, who will be joined by fellow French
streaming compatriots LittleBigWhale and Ponce, as well as some special guests.
For more information about the Roland-Garros eSeries, visit the Roland-Garros website.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
