Paris, June 9: French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli has criticised the weak displays from the country's male players after their disappointing run at Roland Garros.

According to the French man, the male tennis players lacked physical strength and grit.

The FTF President has always been very candid about his country's tennis situations and after the frustrating performances, he lashed out at the current set of male players saying they lack that bit of energy required to go far in tournaments.

"What the French men lacked to go further is grit," Giudicelli told French radio RMC.

Giudicelli also criticised Lucas Pouille who suffered from a cramp in the midway of the match and eventually lost to Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2 3-6 5-7 6-2 6-1 in the third round.

"When a coach says that the player can spend eight hours on court when the temperature is 45°C and then he gets cramps in the fourth set, there's a problem."

"Enough talking. We need to work according to the norms of modern tennis. It means having physical abilities very early and also work on the mental," he said.

For the first time since 2010, no Frenchman will be able to make it past the fourth round stage of the event at Roland Garros.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffered a shock defeat in the very first round against unseeded Renzo Olivo.

Gael Monfils was the furthest of the lot who defeated compatriot Richard Gasquet in the third round. However, the 30-year-old was soon beaten out in the fourth round by Swiss star Stanislas Wawrinka, who will now take on world number one Andy Murray in the semi-final.

Yannick Noah was the last player to win the second Grand Slam of the season when he outdid Sweden's Mats Wilander for the French title in 1983. But since then no Frenchman has won the prestigious tournament till now, let alone a Grand Slam title.

OneIndia News