New Dawn For Paris Masters, New Era For Pioline 

Richard Gasquet, Rolex Paris Masters
Cedric Pioline (right) with Gilles Moretton, Richard Gasquet (photo: Johan Sonnet/FFT)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, October 27, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

The Rolex Paris Masters, the ninth and final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, has moved into a new home.

One of the last tournaments of the regular ATP Tour, the Paris La Défense Arena is ready to showcase eight of the current ATP Top 10 players over the next week, led by World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, World No. 2 Jannik Sinner and defending champion and World No. 3 Alexander Zverev.

As main draw play in the 40th edition of the Rolex Paris Masters begins on Monday, with a prestigious title up for grabs and the remaining qualifying sports in the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals at stake, there’s also plenty of pride on the line for the seven players from France dotting the 56-player main draw field.

A total of five Frenchmen will be in action on opening day. Wild card Arthur Cazaux opens play on Court Central against Luciano Darderi of Italy followed by another wild card, Arthur Rinderknech, against Fabian Marozsan of Hungary. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard headlines the night session against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in his return to the ATP Tour following a lengthy injury. Also in action from France are wild card Terence Atmane and Alexandre Muller.

During his recent pre-tournament press conference, Paris Masters tournament director Cedric Pioline answered questions about a variety of subjects, including the choice of wild cards, the playing surface in the 17,500-seat Court Central – second-biggest capacity on the ATP Tour behind Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open – and the importance of the Paris Masters to the city, the country and the French players. 

Choosing wild cards is never easy

On the choice of wild cards Terence Atmane, Arthur Cazaux and Arthur Rinderknech of France and recent Shanghai Masters champion Valentin Vacherot of Monaco: “Well, the choice for wild cards is never an easy task. My feeling is that this year maybe it was a bit less difficult to choose,” Pioline said. “All concerned by this choice have a lot of respect for players. We know that it’s their profession, that they work very hard, fight a lot, trying to get to the main draw. Their profiles are different.

“Obviously there were two groups out of the four wild card selections. There are two that were quite natural, to have Arthur Rinderknech, because he had a wonderful run during the Shanghai tournament. It seemed also natural to invite Valentin Vacherot. His run was more breathtaking because he won against Arthur Rinderknech. His was one of a kind. He climbed 160 places in the rankings.

“Then there’s a second group with Cazaux and Atmane. The choice that was ours was to choose from the young players. Arthur Cazaux was among the top 100. He dropped because he was injured. He went to a challenger, won a challenger in Asia. Atmane, as well, he’s managed to make it into the Top 100, as well.

“I know it’s always difficult to make such a choice because we want everyone to win and we want everyone to play. It’s always heartbreaking to say no to some players.”

Playing surface will be slower than before

“The surface is slower than last year,” Pioline admitted, comparing La Défense to Bercy. “But it was our desire to make it slower, as well. We see that players are quite satisfied. It is important for us.”

Pioline addressed the desire to have a surface similar to that for the Nitto ATP Finals. “Yes, it’s to be closer to the ATP Finals tournament in Turin,” he said. “Players actually need to have similar court conditions for those that are concerned, of course.

“ATP Finals is the last tournament. It’s a very important tournament for them. So we try to have a speed that would be most suitable to as many types of play. Generally surfaces have slowed down actually all throughout the year now. …

“Not every player has the same opinion. So we tried to reach the widest consensus possible amongst as many players as possible.

“It has been standardized recently, if we take into account the indoor, the grass and clay. Some are satisfied. Some are less satisfied. We try to listen to everyone.

“We also listen to the ATP’s feedback because this tournament is organized by the ATP. We speak with tour managers, as well, and organizers. 

“The feedback we got from 2024 was that it was too fast a court. We tried to adjust, to change. We’ll see if we managed to find the right speed for this edition.”

La Défense Arena is new home for the tournament

Pioline addressed the subject of the Rolex Paris Masters’ new home at La Défense Arena after leaving its longtime location in Bercy. (The distance between the two locations is about 23 kilometers via Blvd Périphérique.) “We know that it’s a new home for us,” he said. “It’s a new venue. The stakes are still the same for tennis players. Mathematically, the No. 1 is still debated. We know that Alcaraz will be No. 1, but maybe Sinner can do something. There are also new ATP rankings to be taken. …

“Everyone wants to play well. French tennis players want to play well. We saw what happened with [Ugo] Humbert [last year]. We saw home much the public cheered for him. It always is something that is important.

“As a tournament organizer, we always want French tennis players to be supported by the French public because this adds value to the tournament, especially for the main draw from Monday to Sunday.”

Ready for this year’s Rolex Paris Masters to begin

Pioline, for one, is ready for this year’s Rolex Paris Masters to begin. “I think the way in which we will experience Rolex Paris Masters will evolve. We have a new venue with a new setup. Probably the identity of the tournament will be closer to events such as Roland Garros, where there’s a lot of noise, a lot of life simply. This is direction in which we are going,” he said.

“Ancillary costs will evolve in terms of capacity, in terms of standards, as well. There were some standards that we did not comply with, like the height under the ceiling. There are heightened courts. Four thousand square meters. It’s actually an upgrade. 

“We’re starting at the same place. We have to go our way. We have to make it lively. I’m sure it’s going to be a wonderful tournament.”

Around La Défense Arena

• During his pre-tournament media interview session, Rolex Shanghai Masters runner-up Arthur Rinderknech of France was asked to describe the past two weeks:

“I went back home. I spent some time at the sea, in the mountains, to take some time off, which is quite good, because the Asian tour wore me out, and there was the Davis Cup, as well, which was a change after the US Open and the American tour,” he said. 

“I was quite exhausted, so it was important for me to regroup and spend some quality time with my wife and the people in my family.

“It was a good thing after this final in Shanghai. Of course, had I won, it would have been the icing on the cake, but already, being a runner-up was a good thing, and I have a lot of good positive things to take back from this.

“And then I thought as for Basel, I thought if I felt ready, I would play; if not, I wouldn’t play. And I felt I was a bit tired, so I didn’t want to make the same mistakes, so I decided to take some time off, to take some to regroup.

“I thought it was risky to go to Basel. It could be risky for me. I could be borderline for this tournament had I gone on court in Basel, because it’s a very intense tournament. Every time you play a match in competition, it can be intense.

“So we decided not to play and to have preparation ahead of this Masters 1000 and not to take risks for the Davis Cup, which is to happen in a few weeks.

“And it is a big objective, as well.”

The 27th-ranked Rinderknech, who received a wild card into the main draw, will play his first round match Monday afternoon on Court Central against No. 49 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary.

• World No. 1 and top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who received a first-round bye and will face either No. 35 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain or No. 43 Sebastian Baez of Argentina in the second round later this week, said during his pre-tournament interview that he’s impressed with the tournament’s new venue.

“Well, I have to say that this is impressive, to be honest,” Alcaraz said. “I like so much the new venue. Everything I think is much easier for the players, more comfortable for the players. So, I think they made a great change coming here, and I’m just really happy they did it.

Asked about the court speed, Alcaraz said: “You know, the speed of the court, yeah, it’s much slower than last year. But I think it is a really good speed that we can see tennis, not only serve or it’s not only serve plus one. So you can see rallies, you can see points, you can see tennis. So I think it’s great.”

Alcaraz added: “Obviously I’ve said many times that I like, you know, slower courts, not that fast. But yeah, we will see. Yeah, obviously this tournament is not my best one in terms of results, but I love playing here. The time of the year, you know, it’s been long with the indoor. I’m not really used to playing indoors, but year after year, I think I’m getting more used to it.

“So, we will see this year. Hopefully go farther than previous years.”

Monday’s Rolex Paris Masters order of play

By the numbers

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain is the top seed this week at the Rolex Paris Masters, one of three Masters 1000 events that the 22-year-old Spaniard still hasn’t won along with Canada and Shanghai. He starts the week leading the ATP Tour in wins with 67 and most titles won with eight.

“Quotable …”

“It’s three big tournaments that I have ahead [Paris, Turin, Davis Cup]. So, Turin, it’s a really important one for me, but obviously the Davis Cup, playing with my teammates for my country, its a really special one.”

World No. 1 and top seed Carlos Alcaraz, during his pre-tournament news conference, on looking ahead to playing indoors tennis the rest of the 2025 season.

 

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