The voice of (French) tennis: Marc Maury
The major events in French tennis have been inextricably linked to the voice of one man for years: stadium announcer Marc Maury.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Apr 20, 2022, 07:16 am
If you paid close attention in Monte Carlo last week, you could always see that man appearing out of nowhere in the final stages of the matches on Court Rainier III in the corner where the players from the catacombs enter the court, whose sonorous voice accompanies the tennis events in the Principality, in Paris-Bercy, but above all in Roland Garros: Marc Maury. It is not wrong to assume that only a "Grand Chelem" intoned by Maury actually gives a major the status of one of the four most important tournaments in the world.
That starts with the draw for the second Grand Slam tournament of the year: This is also usually verbally accompanied and accompanied by Maury. When a public event forms the framework. Which can no longer be considered set due to the corona pandemic.
The robust "Rafael Nadal" in a promotion at Eurosport for the player there when the Spanish grandmaster marched in? Yes, that's how it's learned, Nadal would probably be missing something if Maury didn't announce him personally when he marched in. The fact that the 13-time champion always enters the Philippe-Chatrier court with his head bowed, then looks up briefly, almost grumpily, and greets the crowd with two fingers raised - that almost seems to have been agreed upon in the whole choreography with Marc Maury.
Maury always dressed perfectly
A stadium announcer always has to be on time, even over-punctual. And well prepared. Ask Stefan Steinacher, who has been the voice of the Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel for years, the Generali Open there, but also numerous biathlon events. It is not uncommon for Steinacher to ski down the piste himself at the crack of dawn, after all, the pitfalls of entering the steep slope need to be competently explained.
On the other hand, Marc Maury may be a similarly excellent tennis player as Stefan Steinacher is an excellent skier - but even those who come to the Stade Roland Garros very early during the French Open will not see Maury as Gael Monfils' hitting partner. Because this man has one thing in addition to his memorable voice: an unerring instinct for the perfect outfit (which we don't want to deny Steinacher at this point - the conditions at the summer tournament in Kitzbühel are simply different). And that means a suit that he certainly didn't order from the catalog at Universal Versand (the Austrians will remember).
Jealousy is not appropriate at all. But a little bad conscience. Because if you had paid a little more attention in French class, you would really have been able to pick up all of Marc Maury's linguistic pearls. 2022 will bring new challenges at Roland Garros. Daily concerts are planned before the night session starts, the evenings will drag on. Monsieur Maury will rock that too.