Director Quentin Reynaud: How to turn tennis into movies in Roland-Garros – French Insider excerpt

Reynaud and host Jenny Drummond recently talked about the director’s new tennis movie, “Final Set.” Rather than focusing on the actual tennis (although it does that on occasion), this film highlights the off-court trials and tribulations that can mark the career of a tennis player — or any other professional athlete.

“There [have been] many movies speaking about tennis, but nothing about what’s happening inside the head of a tennis player,” Reynaud explained. “The mental difficulties, the injuries — they are never spoken about in movies.”

Tennis just the background

He did, however, mention the influence that Woody Allen’s “Match Point” had on him. Reynaud noted that in Allen’s film, tennis was just the “background” as opposed to the “real subject” of the movie. It is a similar story in “Final Set.”

“It’s about a French tennis player who was expected to be the next big thing,” Drummond said after taking a look at the trailer along with Reynaud. “But that really didn’t happen, did it?”

“No it didn’t,” added Reynaud. “It didn’t for many reasons. But the movie starts when he is at the end of his career. He is 37 or 38. He was (supposed to be) a big thing, but he never really became that big thing — because of injuries, because of mental difficulties, because whatever.”

“Final Set” stars Alex Lutz, Ana Girardot, and Kristin Scott Thomas. It is 105 minutes long and can be seen with English and German subtitles. Luts plays the role of Thomas, once touted as France’s next great champion but never living up to the hype. Against the advice of his wife and mother Judith (they advise him to retire), Thomas opts to take one last shot at Roland-Garros. He draws a new tennis prodigy, Damien, in the first round. What happens next, of course, is something you just have to watch and see.