Metz tournament manager Yvon Gerard told the local newspaper Republicain Lorrain that the rights were sold to Taiwanese investor Robert Han, who plans to organise a ATP Tour event in Taiwan in the same week.
There was already a worrying article earlier this year about the future of Metz ATP. I was hoping it would move at least to another place of that area, like Strasbourg. There are now not enough hc 250 events in Europe.
Well, it's a good option for those going for Asian Swing and not being involved in DC play offs. Metz or St Petersburg are reachable in reasonable amount of time, even right after Sunday Davis Cup tie, for Chinese Taipei you need hell a lots of time, so it will have an impact on entry list.
To tell the truth I think maybe they should replace St. Petersberg too and return Kuala Lumpur, so the Asian Swing would start there. It is awkward IMO that they have this European Indoor start post-DC SF, then we go to a 3 week stretch on the Asian Swing then go back in 5 weeks for the European Indoors (including WTF).
There's usually no one watching Challengers such as Kaohsiung. I don't think this ATP event will be any different. At least in Metz there would be crowds.
They will probably advertise it and give away freebies if necessary to fill the seats to an acceptable degree, but the atmosphere wouldn't be the same for sure, especially since no top players would show up there. Nishikori certainly wouldn't, because of Tokyo the following week. He did play in Malaysia in 2014, but that was pretty much IMG forcing him, and it was his pre-top-5 days.
Shenzhen was surprisingly good, though. Wasn't there a challenger there, and wasn't it pretty much an empty-seat affair as well? The "Main Tour" label might do some trick.
It's always nice to hold a tournament outside Europe, but I'd hold a 250 in Japan instead if it has to be Asia.
Why am I not surprised? China now has 5 Atp events? Chengdu, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shangai and Taipei. Seems too much. But who cares anyway, Challenger and futures events are more importante when it comes to develop tennis around New places.
Hope they somehow have one in the Philippines -- we did host the Manila Open CH (which was won by Colonel Youzhny) and with the IPTL having great attendance here, I think it would be a good idea to hold one here, although I feel maybe they may need to attract big names or at least Top 20 players to attract watchers.
The ATP Board of directors has refused the sale of the rights to the tournament to the Taiwanese investor.
The future is now very unclear, as the Metz organiser can no longer finance the tournament. Either a different buyer acceptable for the ATP will have to be found, or the tournament will simply disappear from the ATP calendar.
Update:
The ATP Board of directors has refused the sale of the rights to the tournament to the Taiwanese investor.
The future is now very unclear, as the Metz organiser can no longer finance the tournament. Either a different buyer acceptable for the ATP will have to be found, or the tournament will simply disappear from the ATP calendar.
What a shame. It was such a nice tournament. I went there 4 or 5 times when I was studying there and it was always easy to approach the players. Even in the city. I remember running into Simon with his wife and his young toddler in the city center, or running into Korolev doing his morning jogging in a park while I was walking to uni. Seeing Llodra picking DVDs at the local FNAC. It was down to Earth and with very decent crowd both in the afternoon and night sessions.
It's a month old, no one posted this. Great news if true.
METZ, December 18, 2016
The Moselle Open will be held in Metz in 2017. The tournament reached an agreement with the ATP after players seemed to prefer the city in northeast France over Taipei or Kazakhstan, which are countries that could have had offered more money in terms of prize money and in terms of bringing more top players to compete in the ATP 250 event.
Instead, the tournament remains in the hands of Yyon Gerard, who will have to ask for significant effort to offer economic support in order to hold pace with the St. Petersburg Open, which takes place the same week of September 18. Three top 10 players competed in Russia this year with Germany’s NextGen star Alexander Zverev lifting his first ATP trophy.
In Metz, local favourite Lucas Pouille also claimed his maiden title on the ATP World Tour, winning the final 7-6, 6-2 over top seeded Austrian youngster Dominic Thiem. The tournament had a total prize money of €520,070.
The Moselle Open will be held in Metz in 2017. The tournament reached an agreement with the ATP after players seemed to prefer the city in northeast France over Taipei or Kazakhstan, which are countries that could have had offered more money in terms of prize money and in terms of bringing more top players to compete in the ATP 250 event.
It's a month old, no one posted this. Great news if true.
That's quite an interesting statement to make. Did the ATP Player Council make this decision or is it just speculation? After all, even Novak couldn't keep his tournament going.
Ew, Taiwan. It's a nice place but IDK if it's best to move the tournament there.
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