A Challenger to replace the ATP tournament in Metz from 2026?
The ATP 250 tournament in Metz will disappear from the calendar starting next season. However, a new tournament organized in the prefecture of Moselle from 2026 on the Challenger circuit is not an idea to be ruled out at this time.
This week, Metz is hosting its annual ATP tournament. Since 2003, players from the tour have come to Moselle to participate in the Metz event. However, this is the last time Metz will host a tournament on the main tour.
Indeed, as announced last season, the tournament will disappear from the ATP-approved calendar starting next year. A hard blow for the city as well as for French tennis, which had already seen the Lyon tournament removed.
However, tennis could still remain in Metz. Indeed, according to information from Le Républicain Lorrain reported by L'Équipe, the city has not abandoned the idea of organizing a tournament, this time on the Challenger circuit from 2026, at the end of the season as is currently the case for the ATP tournament. A possibility that interests the mayor of Metz, François Grosdidier.
"We are still interested in a major event. If there is a new proposal for a professional tournament, we are interested and enthusiastic. Moreover, I hope that all political, departmental, and regional stakeholders will be as well," he stated to the regional media.
The company TV Sports Events, which already owns the ATP 250 tournament in Montpellier and operates the Challenger in Roanne on French soil, would thus be leading this new project. If it comes to fruition, it would allow the Moselle department to remain attractive, since the Thionville Challenger is also organized in March and will upgrade from the CH75 to CH100 category in 2026.
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