LILLE/STARNBERG, January 27, 2026
The Play In Challenger Lille, the biggest professional tennis tournament north of Paris, will take place from 16 to 22 February on the indoor courts of the Tennis Club Lillois Lille Métropole. Upgraded to ATP Challenger 125 status in 2025, the event once again offers a total prize money of €203,900 plus hospitality and promises its most prestigious lineup to date.
The eighth edition features several well-known names, led by French stars Hugo Gaston (world No. 93) and Benjamin Bonzi (No. 106), alongside former world No. 7 David Goffin of Belgium, now ranked 117th. For Gaston and Goffin, this will mark their first appearance at the Play In Challenger Lille, although both are familiar with the region. Gaston is a member of TC Boulogne-sur-Mer, with whom he claimed the French Pro A interclubs title in November 2025, while Goffin previously represented TC Lille and will feel very much at home in northern France.
The depth of the field is further underlined by the presence of three additional top-100 players: Britain’s Jacob Fearnley (No. 77), who climbed as high as No. 49 in September 2025, Austria’s Filip Misolic (No. 84), and Belgian rising star Alexander Blockx (No. 96), the former junior world No. 1 in 2023, who returns to Lille after competing in 2024 and 2025.
Also set to compete are Frenchman Luca van Assche, the 2021 Roland-Garros junior champion, as well as two of the most exciting young prospects on tour: Spain’s Martin Landaluce and Germany’s Justin Engel. With such a strong and diverse field, the 2026 Play In Challenger Lille is shaping up to be one of the highlights of the early indoor season.
D. Goffin, 4 Top 100 (H. Gaston, J. Fearnley, A. Blockx, F. Misolic), des joueurs “Next Gen” (M. Landaluce, J. Engel), de nombreux (B. Bonzi, L. Van Assche, U. Blanchet, H. Mayot), d’autres joueurs internationaux (Y. Bu, L. Nardi, M. Echargui) : plateau royal au @PlayinLille ! pic.twitter.com/XskJUlRceg
— Play In Challenger Lille (@PlayinLille) January 26, 2026
