Tradition oblige, Cédric Piolinedirector of Rolex Paris Masterstook stock, this Sunday at 1 p.m., of the 2024 edition of the Parisian tournament, the last to Bercy. The opportunity for the former player to give the figures and announce a new attendance record, with 276,416 spectators. Pioline was also able to tell a little more about the move to the Defense Arena from 2025 and on the challenges to be taken up for the next edition, without forgetting the great dynamics of French men's Tennis and the crazy journey ofUgo Humbert.
Video – Cédric Pioline took stock of the Rolex Paris Masters 2024
“276,416 spectators for this edition, therefore more 6,300 spectators compared to last year”
“We wanted this edition to be a celebration and I think that is the case. This is the case not only in relation to the paintings, but above all to say that we still saw this enthusiasm, this fervor, in everything that happened throughout the week. With very attractive matches and then full stands. With also a figure that I can announce to you, 276,416 spectators for this edition, therefore more 6,300 spectators compared to last year. This is mainly due to the new qualifying gauge, since the final table from Monday to Sunday, obviously, we are on the same gauge.”
“This new operation of three daytime matches and two evening matches worked extremely well”
“This new operation of three matches during the day and two matches in the evening worked extremely well and made it possible to resolve certain difficulties which caused switching problems between the day session and the evening session. With, as we know, sometimes problems slightly late starts. We almost stuck to the 7 p.m. schedule each time. We only had one late finish to the match, since we went slightly past midnight. I think for the comfort of all the fans, and then the. comfort, obviously, of the players, it’s something that is appreciable.”
“Ugo Humbert is probably having a growing belief about who he is.”
“Ugo Humbert has a game that is very interesting because it is spectacular, he is capable of unleashing winning shots. It's original, this very offbeat serve which poses a lot of problems for his opponents. I think he is probably having a growing belief about who he is, about his identity and his possibilities. This week, he has a top 10 level. He will go up a little further and get closer. will he succeed? I hope that he is someone who was initially a little reserved and who in a certain way forces himself to be demonstrative. well because he established himself this week as the leader of French tennis. We have Ugo, who is slightly older. Giovanni Mpetshi and Arthur Fils are not far away in terms of ranking. very different characters. Emulation is always something that is good, at the national level, obviously, and at the international level. In any case, if there are, I don't know, seven, eight, nine for example… It's a good problem, actually.”
“We are going to build something different at Paris La Défense Arena”
“It’s also time to thank theAccor Arena for his thirty-nine magnificent years. As I already said, we have been here since 1985 for the opening of the room. The room and the tournament have grown together and we have written an absolutely magical book while waiting, once again, for this year's winner. We are going to build something different. The identity within Paris La Défense Arena, we will do everything to ensure that it is built in the most positive way possible now. With the best players in the world, there is no reason why it cannot be done, especially when we see the swimming that took place at Paris La Défense Arena, with the exploits that the we all know Léon Marchand, and the atmosphere associated with all that. So, I don't have a big worry about the fact that we manage to have the same kind of atmosphere in a different room.”
“We started with a blank sheet of paper”
“The coming year is going to be intense because we had to rewrite everything. We started from a blank sheet, almost. So, to arrive at the final result, what I can already tell you is is that we will have a central court which will have a capacity of 16,000 and more, therefore greater than what we have here. There are many things to put in place there, obviously, year after year, here, at. the Accor Arena, there was a form of copy and paste on many things. There are so many subjects that are diverse and varied to arrive at a finished product. The federation teams and I are on it. obviously, and we are in the process of building this immense Lego to arrive at delivery in 2025.”
