(Paris) The Paris Masters 1000, cramped in the current configuration of the Bercy hall, “must grow” to “meet the requirements” of the ATP, tournament director Cédric Pioline explained on Thursday, specifying that An announcement will be made “soon” on its future.
“The ATP has changed its requirements enormously in recent years and that is why the federation has started a reflection and we will know more soon,” assured the former French number one.
“We are aware that the tournament must grow to meet all these demands,” he added during a press conference at Roland-Garros.
Currently, the Masters 1000 in Paris, the only indoor tournament in this category, benefits from an exemption from the ATP to be organized in the Bercy hall, despite its limited infrastructure, in particular two undersized annex courts. .
While the hypothesis of a move to La Défense Arena in Nanterre was mentioned a few months ago by the newspaper The TeamCédric Pioline simply stated that “there would be no announcement today”.
For 2024, the tournament will therefore be held in Bercy. During the press conference, the director of the Masters 1000 returned to the 2023 edition, which had been the subject of criticism from several players for its extended night sessions.
“We experienced a lot of emotions, including 17 matches that lasted more than 2 hours 30 minutes of play. […] This posed some problems in respecting certain schedules,” explained Cédric Pioline.
“We are aware of this and this is why the French Tennis Federation (owner of the tournament, Editor’s note) has noted that for 2024, the center court program will increase to three matches during the day (compared to four in 2023, Editor’s note) and two in evening,” he announced.
