MONTPELLIER/WASHINGTON, February 2, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

The 16th edition of the Open Occitanie has returned to Montpellier this week, in the Occitanie region southern France. It’s a city blending ancient charm with modern flair – and the 28-player field for this ATP 250 indoor hard-court event reflects a combination of veteran competitors such as France’s Adrian Mannarino and Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland as well as up-and-coming talent like Italy’s Luca Nardi and Arthur Gea of France.

It should come as no surprise that of the 28 players in the main draw, nine of them are from France – plenty of home favorites for the fans to cheer for – and the home country has produced four different tournament champions, who have won the Montpellier event a combined eight times.

As the opening day of the main draw commenced Monday inside Sud de France Arena, the 70th-ranked Mannarino faced No. 77 Pedro Martinez of Spain in the first match. The 37-year-old Frenchman aimed to record his first win on the ATP Tour since defeating Matteo Berrettini of Italy at Shanghai last October – and he did just that.

Mannarino, 37, pulled through a tight and lengthy first-set to pull out a tiebreaker, then broke away a double-break lead against Martinez in the second set by hitting the ball cleaner. It added up to a 7-6 (3), 6-1 triumph in an hour and 36 minutes on Court Patrice Dominguez. It was Mannarino’s first victory of 2026 and it broke an 0-8 losing streak across all levels.

What a way to seal it!

Adrian Mannarino records his first win since October 2025 after beating Pedro Martinez 7-6 6-1 ✅#OpenOccitanie26 pic.twitter.com/BCq4EZPQhz

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 2, 2026

Mannarino was solid in his 10 service games against Martinez. He hit 17 winners – including 14 aces – and won 82 percent (36 of 44) of his first-serve points. Also, Mannarino saved both break points he faced and outpointed his opponent 69-51.

“We’ve known each other for so long,” Mannarino said of Martinez, during his on-court interview. “For me, it was not easy tactically. I didn’t really know what to do. He was a little bit the same. The first set was not great but we both served pretty well. I started the tiebreaker pretty well and my serve was consistent all the way. [In the second set] I continued to serve really well and it really helped my game today.”

In his eighth main-draw appearance in Montpellier – tied for fourth-most in tournament history – Mannarino’s win also meant he’s achieved an ATP Tour victory in 18 different seasons (2008, 2010-25). Meanwhile, Martinez was denied his first tour-level win since defeating Holger Rune in a Davis Cup tie between Spain and Denmark last September. His last win indoors was also against Rune, which advanced him to the Rotterdam quarterfinals last February. 

Although Martinez began his 2026 season by winning his eighth ATP Challenger Tour title in Bangalore, he’s followed it with back-to-back first round losses beginning with an opening-round setback against Australian Open finalist Novak Djokovic and now Mannarino.

Next, Mannarino will play either No. 5 seed Ugo Humbert of France, ranked 38th, or No. 67 Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands.

Around Sud de France Arena

• World No. 89 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain came into his first-round match against Christopher O’Connell looking to garner his first win since defeating the 119th-ranked Aussie in Winston-Salem last August – and he did it. Breaking an 0-4 losing streak, Bautista Agut needed two hours and 48 minutes to beat the 31-year-old O’Connell, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.

One of three former finalists in this year’s field, Bautista Agut at age 37 and nine months has become the third-oldest match winner in tournament history.

Bautista Agut overcame 48 unforced errors by hitting 32 winners – six of them aces – and saved two match points. He converted four of 13 break points, the last one which put him ahead 6-5 in the deciding set. He closed out the match at love on his serve. Bautista Agut outpointed O’Connell 108-103.

Next, Bautista will face either No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, ranked 52nd, or 160th-ranked qualifier Martin Damm of the United States.

RBA marches on

Bautista Agut saves two match points to record his first win since beating O’Connell in August 2025!#OpenOccitanie26 pic.twitter.com/Mg49OdG3Hf

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 2, 2026

• Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard‘s Open Occitanie lasted a total of 38 minutes. The 57th-ranked Mpetshi Perricard was forced to retire with an eye injury, after losing the first set to 168th-ranked wild card Arthur Gea of France, 6-3.

In the abbreviated first-round match, Gea won 87 percent (20 of 23) of his service points, converted his only break-point opportunity and outpointed Mpetshi Perricard 27-16. Next, Gea will face No. 3 seed Tomas Machac of Czechia, ranked 28th.

Not how you want it to end

Arthur Gea advances to the second round of the #OpenOccitanie26 after Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is forced to retire with an eye injury pic.twitter.com/hHrGY2pLku

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 2, 2026

• The second round of qualifying for the 28-player main draw wrapped up on Monday. The four players advancing to the main draw include: No. 150 Titouan Droguet of France, No. 160 Martin Damm of the United States, No. 551 Moise Kouame of France, and No. 282 Andrea Vavassori of Italy. Also, 174th-ranked Ugo Blanchet of France advanced to the main draw as a lucky loser, replacing Mackenzie McDonald of the United States, who withdrew.

In the first round, Vavassori will face Blanchet of France; Droguet will play No. 125 Jan Choinski of Great Britain; Kouame will oppose last year’s finalist, No. 83 Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States, and Damm will play No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, ranked 52nd. 

• Kouame, aged 16 years and 10 months, has become the sixth youngest man to qualify for an ATP Tour event since 2000. On Sunday, he defeated Sweden’s Elias Ymer in the opening round of qualifying before downing Frenchman Clement Chidekh, 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-3, on Monday to advance to the main draw. Last month, Kouame won two ITF World Tennis Tour events in France– at Hazebrouck and at Bressuire. He’s 12-0 this season in all competitions.

ICONIQUE pic.twitter.com/hOON4YHZiS

— Open Occitanie (@OpenOccitanie) February 2, 2026

• There was one first-round doubles match played Monday. No. 3 seeds Constantin Frantzen of Germany and Robin Haase of the Netherlands defeated French wild cards Ugo Humbert and Fabrice Martin, 4-6, 6-3, 10-5, to advance. The top seeds are Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.

Monday’s Open Occitanie results

Tuesday’s Open Occitanie order of play

By the numbers

• The Open Occitanie crowned eight French singles champions in its opening 10 editions, including three-time winners Gaël Monfils (2010, 2014, 2020) and Richard Gasquet (2013, 2015-16). 

• There are nine French players in this year’s 28-player singles draw as well as three from Spain and three from Italy. A total of 13 countries are represented in the singles draw.

“Quotable …”

“I’ve been here many times. I’ve played well, I’ve played bad. You never know what to expect. Playing indoors is hard. You have to be really good on your serve. You have to deal with your confidence as well. You have to keep rolling and try to play your game as good as you can.”

– Adrian Mannarino of France, who is appearing in his eighth Open Occitanie event, during his on-court interview after winning his first-round match over Pedro Martinez of Spain.