Born in Paris (25 of March, 1965) and of Armenian origin, Gerard Tsobanian is one of the new generation leaders of business men in professional tennis. Right hand of Ion Tiriac, ex tennis star and one of Romanians most powerful business men, Tsobanian is the CEO & President of the Mutua Madrid Open, one of the most prestigious and biggest sporting events in Spain. Additionally, to his position in Madrid, he also supervises the organization of the tournament in Geneva and manages the career of the French professional tennis player, Lucas Pouille. Recently he embarqued in a new project with the organisation of the golf Spanish Open golf tournament that will take place in October in Madrid as well. These Madrilenian projects is where Tsobanian dedicates most of his time, now that the city of Madrid host two important sports events with the Mutua Madrid Open combined male and female tournament on clay and a new international golf event.

Before arriving in Madrid, Tsobanian lived in Los Angeles where he graduated from UCLA in Economics/Business with the special mention of Cum Laude. After his time spent in the US, Tsobanian returned to Paris where he worked for 2 years in the UNESCO headquarters. It was precisely this relationship with UNESCO that led to the creation of a joint programme for Defence of the Rights of Women and the WTA (the association that controls women’s tennis circuit).

In 1992 he decided to seek a meeting with Ion Tiriac in Germany, in which moments the Romanian businessman was working as the representative of the tennis legend, Boris Becker. Tsobanian had heard of Tiriac and wanted to explore the possibilities of getting involved in the world of sports. He began working for him at the Stuttgart tournament and gradually became Tiriac’s right hand man in the tennis activities. During this almost 30 years, he has been also been managing tennis players, such as Goran Ivanisevic, Marat Safin and his sister Dinara Safina.