IC Spain Champions of the Abdesselam Trophy

Madrid, July 2023

During the 5th and 9th of July, our veteran teams +50 and +60 were crowned champions of the Robert Abdesselam Trophy Tournament held at the facilities of the Club de Tenis Chamartín in Madrid, under excellent hospitality and organization.

The competition, organized this time by IC Spain, pays tribute to the figure of Robert Abdesselam, junior champion of France, vice president of the French Tennis Federation and the International Federation, as well as a member of the Davis Cup team. Additionally, he was a founder of NATO, served as a volunteer during World War II, and created the Robert Abdesselam Foundation to support French tennis and promote competition for retired players from the professional circuit.

The competition format is a "round-robin" in doubles mode: 1 women's doubles, 1 men's doubles, and 2 mixed doubles (50/55 and 55/60). Each match won earns one point, so the winning team is the one with the most points after the three days of competition.

For this edition, the IC Spain team was formed by Rosa Bielsa, Carmen Chillida, Carmen Mendaro, Ángel Arbelo, Juan Avendaño, Javier Linares (Captain-player), and Javier Molina, who competed against the International IC teams of Belgium, France, and the invited IC team for this occasion, Norway. Spain emerged victorious in a hard-fought final against France.

The awards ceremony was attended by Nicolás Ramos (President of Club de Tenis Chamartín), Javier Linares (Sports Vice President of CTCH, Captain, and IC Spain executive), and Chema Iñigo (Sports Director of the club and competition supervisor).

It was a heartfelt tournament where, once again, we enjoyed good tennis among friends and had the additional privilege, through the Higher Sports Council (Consejo Superior de Deportes), of witnessing the presentation of the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit to Spanish tennis player Garbiñe Muguruza.

Robert Abdesselam Trophy

Begoña Eraña, Ana Almansa, Angel Luis Arbelo and captain Jairo Velasco respresented IC Spain at the Robert Abdesselam Trophy in Beaulieu sur Mer, France, from 21-24 October.

Organised by eventual winners IC France and supported by the Robert Abdesselam Foundation, the competition combines men’s, women’s and mixed doubles for the Over 55 and 60 age categories, and brings together the three nations most associated with Mr. Abdesselam, plus one specially-invited team.

This year’s event stood out for the outstanding level of its participants and saw the Spanish team finish in second place, tied with an IC Switzerland team that included players such as Andrew Rea and Susanna Vallverde.

Inclement weather forced organisers to change the match format, reducing the doubles matches to 4-game sets and including two ties per team per day in order to be able to complete the competition.

IC Spain recognised the work of Mr. Jean Pierre Herve, President of the Abdesselam Foundation, presenting him with a lithograph by the painter Jordi Alumá. Mr. Herve has developed the philanthropic wing of the Foundation on a global level,  carrying out tennis-related social projects from Cambodia to Uruguay.

Robert Abdesselam was French University Champion in 1939 and a member of the national Davis Cup team for several years. He served as a volunteer during the second World War and later represented France at the united Nations. He was a founder of NATO, Vice-President of the French Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Federation, and President of the International Club of France as well as a founder of the Centenary Tennis Clubs Association. In his professional life, he was a global lawyer for Lacoste.

In 2020, the Trophy will be held in Liege, where the event will be organised by IC Belgium.