Renowned for its lively audience, the Paris Masters 1000 will ultimately be able to count on a similar atmosphere at La Défense Arena (Nanterre), where it will move in 2025 after nearly forty years at Bercy, tournament director Cédric Pioline said this Sunday. .
“Atmosphere and identity” of the tournament, organized in the east of the capital since 1986, “were not created in one or two years”recalled the former world No. 5 a few hours before the last final at Bercybetween the French N°1 Ugo Humbert (ranked 18th in theATP) and German Alexander Zverev (3ᵉ).
“Obviously all this is going to take time, obviously we are going to build something different and the identity within La Défense Arena will be built over time”he added during a press conference.
“We will do everything to ensure that it is built in the most positive way possible. Now, it is certain that the content – a Masters 1000 in France with the best players in the world – will be there”he added.
Therefore, “I don't have a big worry about the fact that we manage to have the same kind of atmosphere in a different room”the conclusion Pioline.
The gauge of the future central court, not yet completely decided, will in any case be greater than 16,000 seats, where the largest court at Bercy could only accommodate around 15,000 spectators, detailed the former 5th in the world.
For its last edition in the east of Paris, the Masters 1000 welcomed more than 176,000 spectators, a total up by more than 6,000 spectators compared to 2023, mainly due to an increased gauge for the two days of qualifying, depending on Cédric Pioline. “We wanted this edition to be a celebration and I think that’s the case”he was satisfied.
“The coming year is going to be intense, because we need to rewrite everything. We started from an almost blank slate”confided the tournament director.
