EL ESPINAR/STARNBERG, May 13, 2025

The 39th edition of the Open Castilla y León – Villa de El Espinar will take place from July 20 to 27 at its traditional venue, the Pedro Muñoz Municipal Sports Complex. This year, the iconic Spanish tournament receives a major boost, moving up in status to an ATP Challenger 75 event offering a total prize money of €91,250.

Recognized as one of the standout stops on the ATP Challenger calendar, El Espinar boasts a prestigious roll of honor that reads like a Grand Slam résumé. Since its inception in 1986, when it was won by Spain’s ‘Pepo’ Clavet, the tournament has crowned champions such as Rafael Nadal (2003), Juan Martín del Potro (2006), Fernando Verdasco (2007), Feliciano López (2009), and Pablo Carreño (2013). Other notable names to grace its courts include Sergi Bruguera, Emilio Sánchez, Radek Stepanek, Ugo Humbert, and even Roger Federer, who won the doubles title in 1999. Stars like Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov also passed through on their way to the top.

French-Spanish rivalry heats up

Last year’s champion, Antoine Escoffier, continued the strong French tradition at El Espinar, marking France’s fourth win in the past six editions. With 12 total titles over the tournament’s history, French players have thrived at the tournament’s high-altitude conditions. It all began in 1992 with Guillaume Raoux. Meanwhile, Spanish players have triumphed 15 times, with the inaugural champion Clavet and Pablo Llamas most recently in 2023. Other recent French winners include Hugo Grenier, Benjamin Bonzi, and Ugo Humbert.