PARIS, June 5, 2016

Geoffrey Blancaneaux from France saves three match points en route to claim the boys’ singles title of the French Open, winning against Felix Auger Aliassime 1-6, 6-3, 8-6.

“It was incredible, all the public. Yannick Noah, too. He pushed me to the limits and I was very happy to won,” the 17-year-old Paris native told and was overwhelmed to meet Yannick Noah on the court.

“He told me that I produced a great performance and that I shouldn’t give up mentally, physically. Even though there were some ups and downs, I didn’t throw in the towel. He encouraged me,” the world number 39 in the junior’s ranking said and added:

“I want to succeed in life, and when I’m contending with difficulties, I hang on. This is my principle. I wanted to win, and there were lots of emotions for Felix. In the last two games I managed to take the upper hand physically and mentally.”

Auger Aliassime was obviously disappointed afterwards but could also see the positives from this week.

“Just after my loss I was really disappointed after getting so close. I mean, you can’t really get any closer than that. After looking back to my week, I think I have made some great improvement. I’m happy with what I did, but I think it’s another good lesson. I’m just gonna come back stronger,” the only 15-year-old Canadian said.

“With the work I’ve done and I know what I am able of, I know I can achieve some great things. I just want to keep having fun, keep doing what I do best, and hope to get a title soon. I’m going back home now. I’m still in school, so I’ve got to go back home and work on that. Then, rest a little bit and train and then two and-a-half weeks I’m going to be back in Europe for Wimbledon,” the teenager said, who is doing distance high school via the internet.