“Providing our talents with experience in an international tournament of this level is a valuable opportunity”underlined Dominique Monami in 2023, before the first edition. And for good reason: the BW Open, as Challenger 125, represents the summit of the second division of professional Tennis behind the five Challengers 175 introduced in 2023. Its winner pockets 125 points, a significant windfall in a season. David Goffin, crowned during the inaugural edition, took advantage of it even though he had to abandon the Australian Open due to illness.
gullPublic subsidies have fallen by 40,000 euros.
The sidelining two weeks ago of Vincent Stavaux, co-director of the tournament, after accusations of indecency against minors, would not be among the reasons which pushed Christophe Dister to make this decision. And this despite, one can imagine, a negative impact on the image of the New Louvanist competition. The motive is purely financial. As the person concerned confirmed to us by telephone on Sunday afternoon: “Some companies have reduced their support. And public subsidies have also decreased, to the tune of 40,000 euros. I didn't want to find ourselves in a situation where we wouldn't be able to pay the bills at the end of the tournament.”
For Dister, who says he is relieved, it has become imperative to modify the economic model of the BW Open. “We are convinced that we must continue to organize this event, which is so important for tennis in our country, but not at any cost. We must modify our formula, taking inspiration from certain tournaments in France where the model is based less on direct sponsorship but rather on the promotion of visible spaces and greater attention paid to VIP areas. Some neighboring tournaments welcome nearly 8,000 VIPs during the week, which allows them to more than break even. For our part, organizing the tournament in six or seven weeks while looking for funding was too complicated. To persist in organizing it under these conditions was to take the risk of destroying everything that has been built over the last two years.”
Christophe Dister has already pleaded his case to the ATP, citing exceptional circumstances. “We hope that they will agree to postpone the license (Editor's note: which runs until 2026) of a year.”
Zizou Bergs sponsor of the third edition of the BW Open, where the organizers still hope to attract beautiful people
A disaster on several levels
For Belgian tennis, this is a disaster on several levels. “For the Belgian players, who could participate in the main draw or in the qualifications via invitations, it was obviously a great opportunity. The spiral of Belgian men's tennis is positive and we could have capitalized on it. In terms of visibility, too, it This is bad news. All sports need it to create vocations. It's a real shame for the enthusiasts and the spectators who had the opportunity to see very good players playing close to home. Belgian referees are also affected”explains Samuel Deflandre, secretary general of the Wallonia-Brussels Tennis federation.
This decision comes at a time when the future of the ATP 250 in Antwerp is also uncertain. Due to construction around the Lotto Arena, the tournament has to change venue. Brussels is mentioned, but a move abroad remains a possibility. Such an outcome would deal a new blow to Belgian tennis, already weakened by the temporary disappearance of the BW Open.
