'Tears in my eyes': Houdet revels in home Paralympics years in making
There was a tear-jerking moment on Court Philippe Chatrier today as home favourite Stephane Houdet lapped up the warmth of a partisan French crowd and celebrated on court with his young daughter.
The 53-year-old – the oldest player competing at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event – had just dispatched Great Britain’s Dahnon Ward 6-2 6-1 to reach the third round of his home Paralympics.
It was a moment years in the making. Houdet has spoken previously of how he was considering retiring from wheelchair tennis in 2018 before the prospect of contesting the Paralympics on the clay of Roland Garros lured him back in.
Saint Nazaire-born Houdet quit his job in the French army – he was delivering a sports rehab programme for soldiers – so he could fully focus on the Paralympics. The feeling that today brought was worth all the sacrifices he has made over the years.
“I never thought this moment would come,” said Houdet, a veterinarian by trade who lost his leg after being struck by a car in 1996 while touring the capital cities of Europe on a motorbike.
“When I started wheelchair tennis in 2005, I was thinking I would probably go the Beijing Games in 2008 and that would be my first and last Paralympic experience. But a friend of mine told me if I want to achieve something, I have to keep going.
“That’s what I did. Then I was close to finishing my career in 2018, but we learned about the Paralympic Games coming to Paris, so I decided to play. Now. I just want to play even more.”
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Houdet has competed at five Paralympic Games and is a three-time gold medallist following doubles triumphs at Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016 alongside Nicolas Peifer and Beijing 2008 with Michael Jeremiasz.
He also claimed singles silver and doubles bronze at London 2012, adding to a trophy collection which includes 24 Grand Slam titles across singles and doubles – nine at Roland Garros. In short, he has a wealth of experience.
The upshot of his experience is that he has never before witnessed an atmosphere like that on Court Philippe Chatrier today. That was a view shared by France’s Paralympic team coach Yannick Noah, who has competed on some of the world’s biggest stages.
“The crowd was amazing,” added Houdet. “I have never played in front of a crowd like that with such an atmosphere. Yannick told us yesterday that he too had never experienced such an atmosphere.
“I said, ‘no, you’ve played Davis Cup in front of 20,000 people with music and everything’. But he insisted the atmosphere the last few days here is different. He told me that yesterday and today I agree with him.
“When you enter the court and you have tears in your eyes, and you’re close to tears because of the atmosphere, you need to slow down and focus on your game. It’s an experience you need to live in order to understand.”
Houdet’s day was to get even better as he and Frederic Cattaneo joined forces to dispatch Israel’s Adam Berdichevsky and Sergei Lysov 6-2 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles.