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Speaker 1: Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of The Sit Down.

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Speaker 1: I'm Matt Trelope from ozopen.com.

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Speaker 2: And I'm Viv Christie from Australian Tennis Magazine. And Matt,

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Speaker 2: this week we delve into the life of an award-winning

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Speaker 2: tennis photographer who is currently hard at work at Roland Garros.

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Speaker 2: Tell us more about your interview with Corinne Dubreuil.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was great to chat to her just before

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Speaker 1: Roland Garros qualifying started. So she's doing, I think, her

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Speaker 1: 38th consecutive Roland Garros working for the French Tennis Federation

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Speaker 1: photography team. I was lucky enough for a couple of

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Speaker 1: years to work with Corinne when I did some work

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Speaker 1: with the FFT, one of the best tennis photographers in

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Speaker 1: the world, and has won lots of awards. And I

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Speaker 1: was very lucky to get a little bit of window

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Speaker 1: of free time for her because it's coming into a

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Speaker 1: busy period.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a fascinating interview. Corinne starts by telling

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Speaker 2: us how she got started in her dream tennis career.

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Speaker 1: Can you take us back to 1987? What do you

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Speaker 1: remember about your first Roland Garros?

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Speaker 3: So 87, I was 16 years old. So at this time,

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Speaker 3: it was very easy to buy tickets, you know, to have.

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Speaker 4: A general ticket to be able to go on nearly

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Speaker 4: every course.

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Speaker 3: So I bought my ticket, took my camera with me,

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Speaker 3: and I went to Honolulu. I was living in the

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Speaker 3: suburb of Paris. So I took the train and everything.

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Speaker 3: when I arrived, I remember that I went to the

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Speaker 3: court number one, number one court, which is not there anymore.

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Speaker 4: I loved that court. It was one of the best,

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Speaker 4: maybe the best in the world.

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Speaker 3: And at that time, Chris Evert, Chris Evert was playing

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Speaker 3: on that court and I was watching her and say, wow,

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Speaker 3: I like her.

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Speaker 4: She's great.

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Speaker 3: And at the end of the match, I said, okay,

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Speaker 3: I would like to get an autograph from her, but

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Speaker 3: I didn't know how.

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Speaker 4: So I tried to know where she was staying in Paris.

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Speaker 4: I found it. I found a hotel. I went there.

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Speaker 3: I was waiting with other people. And then when she arrived,

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Speaker 3: I asked her an autograph and everything. And then, I

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Speaker 3: don't know how, we started to... to talk and every

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Speaker 3: day more. And at the end of the tournament, I

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Speaker 3: got her shoes from her last match in Roland-Garros.

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Speaker 4: She gave me her shoes and she gave me a

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Speaker 4: phone number in Florida.

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Speaker 3: And like this, I was able to call her like, hello.

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Speaker 4: This is Corinne from Paris to get tickets to go anywhere.

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Speaker 4: So I went to Wimbledon, to US Open, to Germany.

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Speaker 4: And Chrissy gave me tickets to enter the tournaments. That's

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Speaker 4: how it started.

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Speaker 3: And when I was traveling to tournaments, I was taking pictures, okay,

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Speaker 3: of players at practice or on court. And I was

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Speaker 3: selling that pictures through a little, how do you say,

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Speaker 3: in magazine, you could put some words and say, selling

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Speaker 3: 10 francs, Pictures of Agassiz, Graf, Becker, Chris Everett and everything.

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Speaker 4: And with that money, I was able to travel. Wow.

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Speaker 5: It is a fantastic story.

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Speaker 1: I read that even earlier when you were 14, I think,

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Speaker 1: were you playing tennis as a teenager and you wanted

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Speaker 1: to be a photographer.

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Speaker 5: Is that correct?

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Speaker 4: Yes, that's correct. I think I started playing badly tennis

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Speaker 4: at six or seven. I spent all my.

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Speaker 3: Weekends at the tennis club. You know, I loved the

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Speaker 3: game and play in a team or individual or everything.

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Speaker 4: I loved the competition, but I was not good. And

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Speaker 4: my uncle was a photographer, but not professional, just amateur.

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Speaker 3: And when I was like, I think around 11, he

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Speaker 3: just gave me his.

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Speaker 4: Camera and I said, wow, that's nice. Nice. This toy

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Speaker 4: is amazing.

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Speaker 3: I can change the lens and I remember really that

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Speaker 3: I went to my parents and said, I will be

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Speaker 3: a tennis photo.

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Speaker 4: Yes, I will be a tennis photographer. That's what I

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Speaker 4: want to do. And years after the dream came true.

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Speaker 4: And yeah, that's that's sweet.

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Speaker 3: I was 11, I think, when when I told my

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Speaker 3: parents what I would like to do in my life,

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Speaker 3: because after 87, I was still going to school, of course.

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Speaker 3: But I was so-so and I badly wanted to make

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Speaker 3: my dream.

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Speaker 4: Come true to be a photographer.

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Speaker 3: So as I told you, I traveled a lot, not

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Speaker 3: a lot, but a little, you know, Wimbledon, US Open, etc.

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Speaker 3: And I was taking pictures. And one day I met

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Speaker 3: a guy who was working at the French tennis magazine.

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Speaker 3: And he said, he told me, why don't you bring

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Speaker 3: your pictures to the magazine and you.

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Speaker 4: Will see what happens.

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Speaker 3: So that's what I did in 87. And my pictures

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Speaker 3: were published, a few of them at the beginning, one

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Speaker 3: by one, one by one. And three years after, in 1990,

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Speaker 3: I had a phone call from Tennis Magazine saying, Corinne,

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Speaker 3: we have a job for you, if you want, to

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Speaker 3: be a photographer and also an editor. It starts in

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Speaker 3: September 90.

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Speaker 4: So if you want, that's for you. I said, But

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Speaker 4: this is my dream.

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Speaker 3: So I went to the US Open in 1990.

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Speaker 4: And when I come back.

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Speaker 3: I remember that my mother came to the airport and

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Speaker 3: drove me directly to Tennis Magazine. So I start my

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Speaker 3: job at Tennis Magazine. I was 19 years old. I

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Speaker 3: stayed there for 13 years. I learned everything with another guy.

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Speaker 4: Which name is Serge. He was like my mentor.

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Speaker 3: And after 13 years, for different reasons, I really thought

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Speaker 3: that's the time to leave and to go by yourself.

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Speaker 4: That's what I did. And since then, so it was

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Speaker 4: in 2003, at the end of 2003, I started to

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Speaker 4: be freelance and I'm still freelance.

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Speaker 1: And you're still freelancing. Oh, it's incredible. I love Not

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Speaker 1: many people can say they are living their dream.

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Speaker 4: But you are.

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Speaker 3: I mean, sometimes you get bored with work, it's hard,

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Speaker 3: it's long days.

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Speaker 4: But I say, oh, oh, oh, oh, please, quiet, you're

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Speaker 4: living your dream. Don't forget that. That's so amazing to

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Speaker 4: be able to live your dream.

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Speaker 3: So, no, I know I'm lucky, but it didn't happen like,

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Speaker 3: you know, I pushed to be there. I mean, I

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Speaker 3: did what I had to do to be where I

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Speaker 3: am today.

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Speaker 1: And you worked hard to make it happen. It doesn't

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Speaker 1: just land in your lap. I know you've done other

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Speaker 1: projects and worked in other spaces, but tennis is your

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Speaker 1: main one.

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Speaker 5: So what is it about tennis that captivates you?

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Speaker 4: I love the game first.

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Speaker 3: And I think sports in general brings you emotion, like

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Speaker 3: Emotion you can get in your life and tennis because

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Speaker 3: that was the sport I was doing. So I like

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Speaker 3: the emotion and I like the players. I like the

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Speaker 3: game and the emotion that that specific sport brings you.

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Speaker 5: Yeah. That's amazing.

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Speaker 1: What is a typical day at Roland Garros like for you?

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Speaker 1: When do you arrive? What are the kinds of things

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Speaker 1: you have to do? Where do you go? What do

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Speaker 1: you have to bring with you? How many steps do

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Speaker 1: you do? Like it must be a big day.

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Speaker 3: So Roland Garros is a little bit different than the

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Speaker 3: other tournaments, the other slams I cover because at Roland

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Speaker 3: Garros I work for Roland Garros and the French Federation.

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Speaker 4: So I work in a team. I love it.

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Speaker 3: This is the only time of the year that I

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Speaker 3: work with other photographers. So we are like 10 photographers

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Speaker 3: for Roland Garros and, um, Each of us has to

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Speaker 3: do something special. So on Monday, we have a meeting

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Speaker 3: at nine all together. It will be nice because we

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Speaker 3: are back together for three weeks. And since last year,

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Speaker 3: I'm doing behind the scenes.

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Speaker 4: And everybody has something to do, the qualities, the practice.

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Speaker 4: And so I will be in the corridors. I love it.

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Speaker 4: It's very nice.

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Speaker 3: You have to be patient, which is not my best part.

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Speaker 3: And from Sunday, I will have one main court and

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Speaker 3: like two or three courts around and I will cover

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Speaker 3: all the games and send my pictures to the editor

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Speaker 3: because they are publishing pictures in real time, you know,

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Speaker 3: the social media and everything. So, I don't have to

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Speaker 3: edit the pictures myself, which is very different than the

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Speaker 3: other slams. The other slams, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 3: I go to my computer, download 3,000 pictures and edit

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Speaker 3: them and then send them to my clients. So at Prolongaros,

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Speaker 3: I don't have this part. I only shoot, which is

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Speaker 3: much more comfortable.

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Speaker 5: Okay, that's interesting.

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Speaker 1: I was going to ask you about working at the

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Speaker 1: other slams. What makes them unique? Do you like them

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Speaker 1: as well? Or is Roland Garros your favourite? Like, I

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Speaker 1: know that the story is with slams. They all have

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Speaker 1: their own thing that makes them special. So how do

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Speaker 1: you feel about them when you visit all the other

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Speaker 1: Grand Slams?

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Speaker 3: So it's not because you're Australian, Matt, but I love

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Speaker 3: the Australian Open, really, for different reasons.

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Speaker 4: I love the site. I love all the.

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Speaker 3: I mean, how we can work there, it's very easy.

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Speaker 4: Very easy.

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Speaker 1: And.

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Speaker 3: It's also summertime in January when in France it's wintertime.

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Speaker 3: So I'm always excited to travel, even if it's a

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Speaker 3: long travel, to Australia.

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Speaker 4: So I really like it.

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Speaker 3: Okay, I would say my favorite one is Roland Garros

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Speaker 3: because it's Paris, because.

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Speaker 4: It's in my heart.

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Speaker 3: But I love Australian Open. I like Wimbledon, even if

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Speaker 3: it's not.

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Speaker 3: As nice to work there because we don't have so

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Speaker 3: many angles.

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Speaker 4: It's very.

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Speaker 3: Restricted, you know? Photographers cannot go everywhere. So after one week,

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Speaker 3: you are like going in a circle, always doing the

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Speaker 3: same thing.

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Speaker 4: But it's nice. It's green. You don't have any ads

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Speaker 4: on the background. So it's nice also. And the US Open,

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Speaker 4: I like it. Even if the roof, the new roof

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Speaker 4: is not good for us because we don't have light

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Speaker 4: on center anymore, you know. You can't see the sun.

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Speaker 5: Okay, interesting.

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Speaker 4: So it's a bit different. You know, before, years ago,

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Speaker 4: after 6 p.m., you had like an amazing light on

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Speaker 4: this court, on these courts, because they have more roof.

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Speaker 4: But they are all unique and different. But I would

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Speaker 4: say Roland Garros, Australian Open are my favourites.

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Speaker 5: Yes, well, that's fantastic.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure you get asked this question a lot, but

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Speaker 1: who have been your favourite players to photograph?

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Speaker 3: So I think we have been very, very, very lucky

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Speaker 3: to have these three amazing players, Rafa, Roger, Novak, and

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Speaker 3: I will add Serena. So for me, if I had

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Speaker 3: to pick only one or two names, I would say

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Speaker 3: Rafa and Serena. Every time they play, I know that

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Speaker 3: I will have fun. I will enjoy to photograph them.

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Speaker 3: There is something happening, you know, the emotion, the power

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Speaker 3: of the game and the personality. I mean, how they are,

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Speaker 3: I love them. So I miss Serena. And I will

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Speaker 3: miss Raphael very soon also.

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Speaker 5: Yes.

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Speaker 1: And I understand that you have won an award for

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Speaker 1: your coffee table book.

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Speaker 5: You did an.

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Speaker 1: Iconic 20 years of Raphael Nadal photography.

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Speaker 5: Yes.

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Speaker 3: The first picture is from 2004, I think. And the

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Speaker 3: first memory I have of Raphael was in Alicante in

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Speaker 3: Spain during Davis Cup.

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Speaker 4: It was against France. He was very young.

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Speaker 3: I think it was 2004. And he was already a fighter.

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Speaker 3: And I say, wow, that guy is great. And also,

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Speaker 3: I remember in Key Biscayne, 2004, he met Roger for

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Speaker 3: the first time.

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Speaker 4: And I have this picture, the Czech hand at the end.

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Speaker 4: And that's the first picture of both of them.

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Speaker 1: So you won an award for that book. I just

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Speaker 1: was kind of curious about how that all came about.

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Speaker 1: And I saw that you posed, there's a photo of

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Speaker 1: you with him and the book.

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Speaker 4: As you understood, Rapha is my favorite in my heart.

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Speaker 3: So I had the chance to photograph him for 20 years.

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Speaker 3: And I remember that I had this idea of making

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Speaker 3: a book about him in 2012.

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Speaker 4: I think. So I did something myself. And I show

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Speaker 4: it to his team and they say, well, it's a

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Speaker 4: bit earlier. We wait, wait.

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Speaker 1: Okay.

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Speaker 3: So I always had that in my head. And two

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Speaker 3: years ago, a friend of mine, a journalist, did a

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Speaker 3: book about Rafa, but a writing book. And he said, Coco,

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Speaker 3: I would like to get you photographed in my book.

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Speaker 4: Are you okay? I said, yes, of course.

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Speaker 3: So I had the opportunity to meet the editor of

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Speaker 3: that book.

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Speaker 4: And we talked and he say, I love Rafa.

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Speaker 3: I said, but I love Rafa. My dream is to

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Speaker 3: make a book about Rafa. And the guy say, let's

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Speaker 3: do it. So it started like that. So it's a

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Speaker 3: French editor in Paris. And I told him, OK, I

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Speaker 3: want to do a book, but a book, a special one.

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Speaker 3: I don't want, I want a a book with pictures

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Speaker 3: only about Rapha. I don't want to tell his story.

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Speaker 3: I want to show artistic pictures and I want to

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Speaker 3: choose all.

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Speaker 4: Of them and to be there when you do the

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Speaker 4: frame and everything. So it's a great story because when

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Speaker 4: I had this book in my hands, Wow, it's a

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Speaker 4: huge book. It's more than three kilos.

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Speaker 3: And it was even better than all my thoughts. So

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Speaker 3: I was very happy and very proud of it. And

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Speaker 3: the editor was selected by, there is a contest with books,

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Speaker 3: you know, all books of the year.

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Speaker 4: And that book was selected. So we went to Monte Carlo.

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Speaker 3: For the party, the night with the price, you know,

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Speaker 3: and we won.

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Speaker 4: And that was Iconic Rapha.

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Speaker 5: And it was yours. It's so good. I love it.

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Speaker 1: And I love that he got to have his copy

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Speaker 1: and see your vision come to the product, the three

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Speaker 1: kilo book in his hand.

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Speaker 5: It's great. You told me about the photo book.

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Speaker 1: In Miami in 2004 with Federer and Nadal together, which

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Speaker 1: is one of the first photos of them together, and

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Speaker 1: obviously all the photos in the Rafa book.

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Speaker 5: You've taken millions of photos. Do you have a favourite?

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Speaker 4: One is not easy.

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Speaker 2: I know.

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Speaker 5: It's a tough question.

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Speaker 4: I will talk about a special one.

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Speaker 3: I think I won a prize also with that one.

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Speaker 3: It's not Rafa, it's not Roger, it's Solzhenitsyn. It was

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Speaker 3: at the US Open.

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Speaker 4: I don't remember when, like five or six years ago.

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Speaker 4: And the Bryan brothers were playing the final. Okay.

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Speaker 3: And as we all know, at the end of any match,

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Speaker 3: they won, they win, they jump and do their things.

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Speaker 5: The chest bump.

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Speaker 4: Yes. Let's do it.

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Speaker 3: So I went up in the stadium and said, I'm

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Speaker 3: I want to get this moment to photograph it. And

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Speaker 3: when I was up in the stadium, I saw all

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Speaker 3: the photographers at the same place. I say, no, no,

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Speaker 3: I'm going to move away, go in a different place.

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Speaker 3: So they won, they jumped and they throw the racket.

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Speaker 2: Okay.

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Speaker 3: The racket was perfectly on court. And in my camera,

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Speaker 3: I could see the racket because I was focusing on

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Speaker 3: the racket and Suddenly, the shadows of the brother came

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Speaker 3: in my frame. And you have these shadows, they look

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Speaker 3: the same, really the same, and the rackets on the

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Speaker 3: blue court. So it's one of my favourite pictures because

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Speaker 3: I tried something different and it worked better than expected.

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Speaker 1: Obviously, you've met Chris Evatt, you've met Rafael Nadal. in

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Speaker 1: your job you are getting close to the players. Have

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Speaker 1: you gotten a chance to meet players or made relationships

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Speaker 1: with players like the ones with Rafa and Chris Effort?

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Speaker 3: The French guys, of course, the French players, women and men,

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Speaker 3: because of the language, because you're Davis Cup, Fed Cup,

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Speaker 3: it's easier. And I think Serena is, and maybe also Sharapova.

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Speaker 4: These two are the ones.

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Speaker 3: I didn't have the chance to photograph like one-to-one. I

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Speaker 3: think I shoot everybody, all of them, except Serena.

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Speaker 4: And Maria.

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Speaker 3: So for me, Serena is like on a stage that

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Speaker 3: you cannot reach, you know?

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Speaker 4: Each time I had the chance to see her or to...

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Speaker 4: I'm very impressed. I mean, she's wow, you know? So.

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Speaker 3: Despite these two players, Maria and Serena, I think I

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Speaker 3: had the chance to photograph all of.

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Speaker 4: Them, not to know them. But, you know, with the years,

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Speaker 4: the players are used to see you on tour.

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Speaker 3: And I think it's, for them, it's, how do you say?

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Speaker 5: Yes, they recognize you.

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Speaker 4: They get confident.

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Speaker 1: Yes.

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Speaker 4: You know, they know I will never do something bad. So, no,

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Speaker 4: it's nice, you know, when you see Novak or Rafa,

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Speaker 4: they always say hello, bonjour. No, they are all very nice.

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Speaker 3: But it takes time to be in this little world,

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Speaker 3: to be recognized as someone, I would say, say, of

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Speaker 3: the family.

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Speaker 4: You know what I mean?

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Speaker 1: Yes.

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Speaker 5: Like in the industry.

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Speaker 4: Respectful.

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Speaker 1: Yes. So going back to the beginning of the interview,

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Speaker 1: you said you are living your dream. So are there

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Speaker 1: any other dreams you would like to achieve? Are there

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Speaker 1: any other things you would like to do with your

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Speaker 1: photography or places you would like to go? in your

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Speaker 1: career that maybe you haven't tried or experienced yet?

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Speaker 3: It's not a dream, but it's a kind of a dream.

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Speaker 3: So I'm getting old. I mean, old, it's fine. But

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Speaker 3: it's a job that asks you to be in good shape.

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Speaker 4: You hold 20 kilos on your back for 15 hours

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Speaker 4: a day for two weeks. So it's tough. So I

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Speaker 4: think in a few years, I don't know how many,

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Speaker 4: but a few years, I will go slowly, you know.

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Speaker 3: And one of my dreams would be to open a gallery,

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Speaker 3: a photo gallery, with maybe pictures of tennis, but I

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Speaker 3: really enjoy going on the beach and photograph the ocean,

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Speaker 3: the light, the sand, the surfers and all that stuff.

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Speaker 3: So I would like one day to open a small gallery.

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Speaker 4: You know what? I saw one in Sydney. What is

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Speaker 4: the name of that famous beach?

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Speaker 5: Bondi.

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Speaker 4: Bondi. In Bondi, there is a gallery. I don't remember

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Speaker 4: the name now. I was walking in the street and say, oh,

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Speaker 4: this is what I want. It was a corridor and

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Speaker 4: the guy, the photographer, is shooting pictures the beach every day.

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Speaker 3: And he sells pictures of that beach. And he said,

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Speaker 3: that's what I want to do in 10, 15 years.

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Speaker 3: So that would be nice to live in Biarritz, relax,

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Speaker 3: play golf, enjoy my friends and have this gallery selling

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Speaker 3: the pictures of Biarritz and maybe pictures of former years,

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Speaker 3: you know, the players and everything.

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Speaker 5: That sounds delightful.

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Speaker 3: And I have one last thing to tell you.

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Speaker 5: Oh, please tell me.

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Speaker 4: We mentioned the iconic Nadal. And I'm very happy to

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Speaker 4: tell you that.

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Speaker 3: I'm working on another iconic, iconic Federer, who will be

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Speaker 3: available in October 24.

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Speaker 4: Wow.

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Speaker 5: That's coming up soon.

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Speaker 4: Yes.

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Speaker 5: Oh, congratulations. That's exciting.

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Speaker 4: And that time it will be French and English. So

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Speaker 4: it will be. Good for everybody.

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Speaker 2: Great interview, Matt. Congratulations. Next time we stop and appreciate

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Speaker 2: a great tennis photo, we'll also think about the hard

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Speaker 2: work that goes into capturing that one single moment.

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Speaker 1: And I was really intrigued when she talked about that

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Speaker 1: photograph she took of the Bryans at the US Open.

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Speaker 5: I hadn't seen that.

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Speaker 1: So I would recommend people to Google Corinne Gibroyle, Bryan Brothers,

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Speaker 1: US Open, and it'll come up.

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Speaker 5: And it is, it's a work of art, what she

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Speaker 5: did there.

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Speaker 1: And we'll be back next week with another episode of

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Speaker 1: The Sit Down where our colleague Luke Dennehy catches up

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Speaker 1: with 1988 Roland Garros semi-finalist Nicole Bradke. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: you can tune in to John and the team this

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Speaker 1: Thursday on the AO Show Weekly.

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Speaker 2: Details for how to contact us are in the show notes.

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Speaker 2: Remember to subscribe, rate and review. See you next week, Matt.

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Speaker 1: See you, Viv.