Paris Masters 1000: A Slower Surface and a Colossal Center Court, Pioline Details the New Features
Following the move to Paris La Défense Arena, the Paris Masters 1000 is stepping up a gear — or almost. With a slightly slowed-down surface and record capacity, Cédric Pioline promises a more comfortable, more spectacular, and completely redesigned tournament for 2025.
The Paris Masters 1000 is getting a makeover this year. After 38 editions held in the Bercy arena, the tournament will reinvent itself at Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre. A choice made to comply with the standards set by the ATP.
With two weeks to go before the start of the event, tournament director Cédric Pioline gave an interview to AFP to discuss the changes taking place this year.
"Without a possibility on our part, on a medium-term cycle – we're talking about four to five years – we had the possibility of being downgraded. We simply needed to be able to evolve," the former French player first stated regarding the tournament's relocation.
He then continued on the new capacity of the various courts, which will number three for the main draw:
"The Center Court will have a capacity of around 17,500 people, making it the second largest court in the world among permanent events, behind the US Open Center Court. There will be just over 4,000 seats on Court No. 1 and 4,000 on Court No. 2.
We also decided to increase the playing surface for the comfort of the players. (At Bercy), the outside courts were a bit tight relative to the players' physical commitment and their court coverage."
Finally, Pioline also mentioned the speed of the surface used for this very first edition in Nanterre:
"We decided compared to last year to slow it down slightly and to align as much as possible with the ATP Finals in Turin, which will begin a week later. We will have something completely uniform in terms of surface (on all four courts)."
