Between generational shock and ever-threatened tournament: the Open Sud de France in Montpellier is at a crossroads

Richard Gasquet and Holger Rune will be among the players followed at the Open Sud de France. ALEX PRESS – MAXPPP

While the qualifications for the tournament begin this Sunday, the Open Sud de France in Montpellier is still threatened, which will see a clash of generations take place in Hérault between Gasquet and Cazaux or even Murray and Rune.

An advantage, an unexpected, unhoped-for profit. This is the definition of the word bargain in the dictionary. And as an example, the name of Arthur Cazaux could be entered, as the Montpellier's recent performances seem to be timely, for a tournament with a sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

After his performance at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where he beat world No. 8 Holger Rune and subsequently reached the round of 16, he did not return to the finals. rsquo;no more was needed at l’Open Sud de France in Montpellierto display the new hope in the corner at the top of the poster.

Also read: Open Sud de France in Montpellier: a German for Cazaux, a qualifier for Gasquet, a Paire-Murray… the final table revealed

The tournament counting on the aura of the new UFO of French and regional tennis to swell the chest in the face of a perilous situation in the short term. The fault lies in the total cessation of subsidies from the Métropole de Montpellier, to the tune of 400,000 euros, or around 10% of the total tournament budget.

The Region as a firefighter on duty

Another public partner financing the Open, which will experience its 14th edition at the Sud de France Arena, the Occitanie Region first had to fill this hole for the 2024 edition, before finding solutions to finance future editions of a perfectly balanced event.

"We are still moving forward on the subject, with private and public partners, informs Kamel Chibli, vice-president of the Region in charge of sports. I hope to announce some good news by the end of the tournament. We always have discussions with the Metropolis and we need it to be there." 

Also read: Distance learning, physique of a marathon runner, undermined by injuries and dubbed by Nadal… how Arthur Cazaux managed to be one of the 100 best players ?

The ball is therefore in the court of President Michaël Delafosse, who did not wish to respond to our requests. The problem is that the urgency is already there, on the side of the Open Sud de France, the tournament having started discussions with other major cities in France and Europe, according to our information. While the file for the 2025 edition should have already been put together several months ago.

Cazaux: "It would be a shame to lose that"

A departure would be a catastrophe for regional tennis and a city which sees one of its prodigies explode. "I want this tournament to continue in my hometown. If he were to disappear, I would be very sad. We're a sports town, we have a great gym…It would be a shame to lose that", regretted Cazaux, on the occasion of the draw carried out on Saturday.

Verdict of the latter, the Montpellier, future 83rd in the world will face an unprecedented opponent, the German Maximilian Marterer (96th in the world), and could meet the head of seed°3, Felix Auger- Aliassime, next round.

On the opposite side of comet Cazaux, Richard Gasquet is in a more complicated situation, leaving the world top 100 for the first time after 956 weeks, at the age of 37 years. The Sérignanese was rather spared during the draw, since he inherited a qualifier in the first round, before potentially facing the number 1 seed, Holger Rune, by the rest.

Rune on mission ?

The Dane, returned to Montpellier thanks to a last-minute invitation, comes out of a failed Australian Open, eliminated in the second round by… Cazaux, whom he could only find in the final. Boris Becker's protégé would definitely win in the Montpellier home, having lost in the semi-final last year, against Maxime Cressy.

Andy Murray (36 years old) is closer to the end than the beginning of his great career and will have to overtake Benoit Paire, in the first round, to go far in the table.< /p>