“Convince the Metropolis that it is the first to benefit from this lighting”: at the Open Sud de France, the organizers do not despair

Kamel Chibli, Samir Boudjemaa et Eric Largeron étaient présents à la conférence de presse. B. R. – Midi Libre

L'Open Sud de France à Montpellier tenait sa conférence de presse de rentrée lors de laquelle il a présenté son plateau et redonné des chiffres montrant son poids sur le territoire.

From Auckland in New Zealand, Sébastien Grosjean still had his eyes drawn, since it was barely 6:30 a.m. there. But no question for the director of theOpen Sud de France in Montpellier, on the other side of the world to accompany his foal Arthur Fils winner of Richard Gasquet the day before, to miss the tournament press conference.

A moment during which the organizers recalled the already announced names of Gaël Monfils, Andy Murray, Lorenzo Musetti, Alexander Bublik, Borna Coric and even the regional Richard Gasquet and Benjamin Bonzi.

"It's a beautiful field with international tennis stars. Murray who returns to Montpellier even though he came during Covid, Gaël Monfils who the general public admires, Richard Gasquet who has always been faithful to the tournament since 2010, describes Grosjean by video.

A slightly less flashy set than last year

However, this field is still less flashy than that of last year, with the presence of Holger Rune or the winner Jannik Sinner.

"Yes it's true, there are fewer players at the top, answers Grosjean. But we have three wild cards, so it will still be possible to look for highly ranked players who lost quite early at the Australian Open. D&#39 ;as much as I have already received quite a few requests from players who have already played in Grand Slam semis or finals. So we will have the possibility of having a higher quality tray."

Organizers flex their muscles

In addition to the sporting aspect, the organizers took advantage of this press conference to demonstrate the importance of the Open Sud de France, while it is threatened due to the ;#39;financing of the Montpellier Metropolis to the tune of &400,000 €, as revealed by Midi Libre.

"It's important that we do it, we have perhaps not done it enough, moreover, says Samir Boudjemaa, the Director General of TV Sport Events, owner of the tournament. It is a popular event with a large and varied audience, whether they are passionate about tennis or not. It's also the event that attracted the most people to the Sud de France Arena, apart from perhaps the Euro basketball with its 15 matches nonetheless. And which is accessible to everyone with prices starting at 6€ and bringing together more than 50,000 people at each edition."

Seated next door, Kamel Chibli, vice-president of the Occitanie Region in charge of sports in particular, was also there to defend an event that he holds close to his heart. "We will do everything to ensure that the Open Sud de France establishes a lasting foothold in the region, especially since the conditions are met. It's a commitment that I make."

The dialogue continues with the Métropole de Montpellier 

While the hole of several hundred thousand euros caused by the withdrawal of the Metropolis has been filled by the Region itself, the organizers do not despair of changing direction ;opinion of the community of communes.

"We always have discussions with them, informs Boudjemaa. The communities have their interest in this tournament. The idea is to have the conditions to consolidate the pool of public actors, to perpetuate private partners. I met Michaël Delafosse and Christian Assaf, they are open to discussion."

"We must convince the Metropolis that it is the first to benefit from this lighting and demonstrate to them that this event has a capital impact, follows in Chibli's footsteps. Especially since we have a room that has no equivalent in the South of Nice in Bordeaux."