The French Open is one of the most historic tournaments in tennis, and one of the biggest titles that any player could want to win.<\/p>\n
However, it will not just be the very best stars of the ATP and WTA Tour competing for silverware at Roland Garros this spring.<\/p>\n
Held in the Roland-Garros Tenniseum auditorium just one day before main draw action begins in Paris, the Roland-Garros eSeries by Renault<\/em> returns in 2025.<\/p>\n Launched in 2018, the\u00a0eSeries is the world\u2019s first-ever tennis gaming tournament \u2013 and remains at the forefront of tennis\u2019 presence in the world of Esports.<\/p>\n Supported by the French Tennis Federation, and with a \u20ac5,000 prize pool at stake, players across France and also internationally are competing on Tennis Clash<\/em> to seal their place in the Finals on May 24th.<\/p>\n Back for its eight edition \u2013 and fourth since Tennis Clash<\/em> was first introduced in 2022 \u2013 the 2025 eSeries promises to be bigger than ever, with the first set of qualifiers having already taken place.<\/p>\n And, helping to lead the 2025 eSeries is one of the most recognisable French tennis stars of the past two decades: Gilles Simon<\/a>.<\/p>\n A former world No 6 and the winner of 14 ATP Tour titles, Simon \u2013 who retired from tennis in 2022 \u2013 believes the unique selling point of the eSeries and Tennis Clash<\/em> is the audience it can attract.<\/p>\n \u201cThe French federation, when they started with this, they just wanted more people to be more interested in tennis and come in a new way,\u201d said Simon.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a very traditional sport, they always say the average people watching tennis are a bit older, so it\u2019s to bring a different kind of public into the game.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the origin of the project, actually \u2013 to find a new public, maybe younger players, younger people.\u201d<\/p>\n Simon\u2019s involvement in the event began as a commentator in the 2023 edition of the event, but, as an avid gamer himself, he decided to enter the competition in 2024.<\/p>\n Now, under a revamped format, he will be one of two captains in a team competition format, with a currently unnamed Grand Slam champion spearheading the rival team.<\/p>\n Having grown his involvement in the Roland-Garros eSeries over the course of recent years, Simon has developed not only a knowledge of the game \u2013 but a bond with those competing.<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cI didn\u2019t know the game at that time, at the start.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the first year, I was just commentating the eSeries, but I wanted to know what I was talking about, so I started to play the game \u2013 and I quite liked it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe year after, I decided maybe I can participate, it puts a bit of pressure because you need to practice, spend hours playing the game and see how competitive you can be.<\/p>\n \u201cI played last year and it was OK \u2013 I couldn\u2019t win the event, of course, because the guys are just too good \u2013 but I could win some matches and I had a decent level.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the end, I liked the game, and I had a good connection with the players who are playing.\u201d<\/p>\n Why Novak Djokovic left the Miami Open as a big winner despite shock Jakub Mensik defeat<\/a><\/p>\n Money and points earned by Mensik, Djokovic, Zverev, Alcaraz at Miami Open<\/a><\/p>\n Tennis is far from the only sport embracing the growing world of Esports in recent years.<\/p>\n It was confirmed in February that the first Olympic Esports Games will take place in 2027 in Saudi Arabia, while the Commonwealth Games held an Esports event alongside the main games back in 2022.<\/p>\n Formula 1 launched its eSeries back in 2017, with the sport\u2019s leading teams hiring specialist racers to compete, while football has also played a leading role in Esports\u2019 growth.<\/p>\n The increased interest in the Roland-Garros eSeries as part of a wider Esports network is undeniable, with the numbers of participants having more than doubled in recent years.<\/p>\n An already impressive 238,000 qualifiers entered the Tennis Clash competition back in 2022 but that number had grown to over 548,000 participants from across the globe in 2024.<\/p>\n The 2024 Finals were the first to be held at the Roland-Garros Tenniseum auditorium and, while there were 200 in-person spectators, a staggering 200,000 people watched online.<\/p>\n While some sports have adapted a complex game or system, Simon believes simplicity has been key to the success of Tennis Clash<\/em> and the Roland Garros eSeries.<\/p>\n With record numbers set to enter in 2025, playing on an electronic reproduction of Court Philippe Chatrier, he believes that the eSeries is already proving beneficial to the sport as a whole.<\/p>\n \u201cTennis is a really difficult sport, it\u2019s a technical sport, here [on Tennis Clash<\/em>] you just have to use your finger. It\u2019s very different \u2013 but it\u2019s a video game \u2013 and this is what I like.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to have a video game that will make things as difficult as tennis is in real life. When you play video games, you want things to be easy.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is where it\u2019s very unique for every sport. The way I see it is, I\u2019m a huge fan of tennis, I like when people are interested in tennis, and in the end, no matter which way.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as people play tennis and they like it and like the atmosphere, we have more people liking the sport, maybe having just come to watch the eSeries game \u2013 I just see it as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n Read Next<\/strong>:\u00a0T365 Week 14 Fantasy Predictions: Tommy Paul, Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula lead champion picks<\/a><\/p>\n The post Exclusive: How Roland-Garros eSeries is bringing tennis to a new audience<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The French Open is one of the most historic tournaments in tennis, and one of the biggest titles that any player could want to win. However, it will not just be the very best stars of the ATP and WTA Tour competing for silverware at Roland Garros this spring. Held in the Roland-Garros Tenniseum auditorium […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tennis News<\/h2>\n