The reasons for staying in Montpellier, the Arthur Cazaux boon, the danger of a World Super League… the organizer of the Open Sud de France takes stock

The Open Sud de France in Montpellier will remain for three more years. Free Midi – Alexandre Dimou

Managing Director of TV Sport Events, owner and organizer of the Open Sud de France, Samir Boudjemaa takes stock after the rescue of the Montpellier tournament and the potential threat of a future Super League in world tennis .

The last edition was a success ? 

Yes in all areas. Firstly sporting, because Sébastien Grosjean was able to combine future talents and players at the end of their careers on the circuit, to have a top 10 and French people present. It was enough to look at the semi-finals, contested by the top four seeds. Monfils, Murray, Rune and Cazaux… all this gave density.

In terms of organization too since we welcomed the players well and were well rated in this regard by the ATP. And then there was a popular enthusiasm which was confirmed, bringing together tennis fans or people who came to discover the tournament.

Arthur Cazaux was a godsend for you ? 

Yes, it's the icing on the cake because we have a player from Montpellier at the top level of the world circuit. But that is only the result of the sports policy carried out in the region for years, in addition to Benjamin Bonzi, Richard Gasquet or Hugo Gaston. So it's not really a surprise.

So we must recognize and congratulate the work of the Occitanie Tennis League, which sees its work succeed with the emergence of Arthur Cazaux. The tournament is therefore part of the League's working tools, in a region where tennis is the second sport practiced. Could we have imagined that there would not be a single professional event in this great League. Hence the coherence of the sports policy led by the Region and Kamel Chibli, who fought hard to keep the tournament. 

Why did you stay in Montpellier despite the uncertainties surrounding it ? 

As an organizer, we feel good in Montpellier. In 14 years, we have forged strong links with local associative, economic and sporting stakeholders. For all these years, we have built a project together on solid foundations.

The proof is the popular enthusiasm around him. The other reason is that we have exceptional equipment, allowing us to integrate two training courts and two match courts. Allowing us to offer the public the opportunity to see the top seeds training when these players are not playing. And we wanted to allow people to offer this world tennis in Montpellier in an accessible way, in particular thanks to our pricing policy. 

And although it has been six months since we should have concluded the negotiations, it is out of gratitude to all these actors and the public. So we had to try everything for all that, when reason would have wanted a relocation to be carried out.

Were you surprised by the choice of the Métropole de Montpellier ? 

They have choices to make, perhaps they have not understood the dimension of what the event could represent for the territory. But I cannot pass judgment on political arbitration, that is not my role. In any case, you should know that the Open Sud de France has been in perfect financial balance for 14 years. 

And the level of participation involved was entirely in line with usual standards. Knowing that this was not sponsorship, the communities benefit from rewards, much greater than the basic investment, whether in economic and media spinoffs. We are still talking about 6.5 million euros in the Metropolis, so there is a return on investment. 

What proposals did you have on the table ? 

What you need to know is that the ATP market is global. There are only around thirty ATP 250 tournament dates, so there is very strong pressure to accommodate dates from certain territories. I therefore had discussions with federations which do not have tournaments, in order to develop the practice in their country and at a high level with the wild cards given to their players.

Or even when there are cities that build new theaters. As soon as an Arena is built, we immediately want to set up a tennis tournament on a recurring basis. And there is a lot of pressure because all the places are taken in the ATP calendar. Especially since ATP 1000 tournaments have been extended, thus eliminating six ATP 250 tournaments. 

In any case, we have had discussions with the Spanish, English and Indian federations. In France, Lyon was a possible destination, where the tournament was before going to Montpellier. Where there are two rooms and no tournaments.

Some rumors point to a future Super League in tennis, could this be a threat to tournaments like Montpellier ? 

The pyramidal architecture of the world circuit already exists, in my opinion. There is the 1000, 500, 250 category with four Grand Slam tournaments above. There are indeed territories which are looking for dates but there are none available. So some are forced to organize exhibitions which cost fortunes like in Oslo in the coming days with the UTS. In Saudi Arabia, we are looking for dates… so we will have to find solutions to satisfy all these requests, how, I don't know. 

Can we see a parallel tour like with golf recently ?

The weight of the players is very important. And I am not sure that it is in their interest that there is only a small part of them who benefit from a Super League . We need all the players and that they all benefit from playing opportunities. The circuit cannot be limited to ten or fourteen dates per year.

We need all the other tournaments every week. Maybe they will want to offer additional bonuses to attract them, but today this is already the case: the prize money of the ATP 1000 is not the same 500 or 250. Prize money which is obligatory for players in the top 10 in the ATP 1000 elsewhere. 

And then even in the interest of tennis nations… This would mean that tournaments are only played in a few countries. My vision of things is that we will have to find an equation to satisfy players, tournament organizers and those who want others. And our thinking about keeping the tournament in Montpellier was in this universe.

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