It was expected, it's official.
The Rolex Paris Masters will change era in 2025. The decision was taken, according to the FFT press release:
“to ensure the best reception conditions for players and spectators, and thus continue to promote this event in France and internationally.”
A page is about to turn and the 38th edition was indeed the penultimate on the banks of the Seine in eastern Paris.
The lease between the former POPB and the French Tennis Federation ends in 2025, the Parisian Masters 1000, based in Bercy since 1986, will therefore take up residence at Paris La Défense Arena, located in Nanterre, in Hauts -de-Seine.
Inaugurated in October 2017, La Défense Arena is the largest venue in Europe, with a maximum capacity of around 40,000 seats for concerts.
“This is a major strategic decision,”
declared Gilles Moretton, president of the FFT, in a press release.
It is one of the most prestigious ATP tournaments, and we are proud that over the years it has become a benchmark event on the French and international scene.
We would like to salute and thank the Accor Arena and its teams, with whom we have written some of the most beautiful pages in the history of tennis at Bercy (...) With this move to Paris La Défense Arena, we will give the means to achieve our ambitions by offering our athletes and spectators an experience that they will remember for a lifetime.”
The 2023 edition, won by Novak Djokovic and marked by high-quality fights and marathon matches, also broke attendance records (more than 170,000 tickets sold).
But the refrain is known.
If the Central is a cauldron, courts 1 and 2, with very low ceilings, are far from the usual standards.
“La Défense Arena will thus welcome a larger number of spectators: 23,000 in total (central and annexes) compared to 16,800 today.
The courts and spaces for players will be enlarged, improved, modernized and grouped together in the same place
,” the press release continues.
The 2025 edition will also allow the organization of four additional matches throughout the tournament with 28 doubles teams compared to 24 today, and an optimized transition to the
“4+2”
format (4 matches during the day and 2 matches in the evening) on the central to a
“3+2”
format , in order to avoid late starts of matches, in particular.
Read alsoRolex Paris Masters: the Accor Arena cannot digest the probable move of the tournament from Bercy to Nanterre
If the enclosure in the 12th arrondissement no longer meets the demanding specifications required by the ATP from the organizers of Masters 1000, the category of events just below the Grand Slams will be in 2025. This is what
the general director of the Accor Arena, Nicolas Dupeux, told Le
Figaro :
“Our greatest frustration is the impression that there is no project at Bercy for 2025. This is not TRUE.
The Federation obviously has the right to look at other options.
But its decision cannot be justified by the fact that we do not meet the standards.
It’s true today, it won’t be true in 2025.”
Obviously, the FFT did not hear it that way.
For Cédric Pioline, tournament director, the move had become essential:
“I am convinced that moving to Paris La Défense Arena marks a significant step in the evolution of the Rolex Paris Masters and opens up a multitude of possibilities in terms of programming but also of 'reception of players and spectators.'