The French Tennis Federation recently announced that the Paris Masters will be relocated from 2025 onwards. The new grounds for the ATP 1000 tournament will be Paris La Défense Arena, a bigger venue with a larger capacity.
The Paris Masters is one of the nine ATP 1000 tournaments on the current calendar. It is the last Masters competition of the season, held in late October and the first week of November. It is also colloquially called Paris-Bercy after its current venue. Since 1986, the event has been held in the Accor Arena in the neighbourhood of Bercy.
The Paris Masters will now shift to the Paris La Défense Arena in the suburb of Nanterre. The 2024 edition will be the last in Bercy, after which it will move to the new venue from 2025 onwards. The change allows the tournament to progress in terms of size, reception capacity, and competition format.
Currently, the Bercy Arena can host 16,800 spectators in all courts combined (ATP). The Paris La Défense Arena, on the other hand, can accommodate 23,000 viewers in the centre court and side courts.
The Fédération Française de Tennis also revealed that the courts in the new base will be bigger. The Bercy venue has often been criticised by players for having small courts. Additionally, the organisers also announced a change in schedule to prevent matches from going on late into the night.
The day sessions will have one match fewer, coming down to three from four, to ensure the evening session fixtures don’t run late. This is a welcome move as the debate over delayed finishes and games going on past midnight rages on.
The tournament will also feature four more doubles teams, bringing the total to 28 from the current 24.
Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal from 2023 Paris Masters due to poor schedule caused furore
The ATP Paris Masters was one of the many tournaments that found itself in hot water over scheduling controversies. After the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters received backlash for poor time management and late-night finishes, the indoor event in Paris joined the list. Multiple matches ran late into the night as players were forced to play consecutive ties on minimal rest.
Newly crowned 2024 Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner infamously withdrew after his opening match. Having received a bye into the second round courtesy of his #4 seeding, his clash against Mackenzie McDonald went hours past midnight. As the Italian mounted a comeback to win in three sets, the tie ended only at 2:45 AM local time (9:45 PM ET). Despite this late finish, Sinner was pencilled in to play in the afternoon slot the next day. Left with barely 12 hours of rest between two matches, he decided to withdraw.
A star player pulling out midway through a tournament because of poor scheduling is not a good look on the organisers and the ATP. Players and fans, including defending champion Holger Rune, slammed the Paris Masters. The FFT has worked on addressing concerns and will hope their new plan works in favour of fans and players.
