ATP Tour
New court docket, identical vitality: Contained in the Rolex Paris Masters and its new period
Perception from defending champ Zverev, Cedric Pioline, and extra
October 30, 2025
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Jannik Sinner walks out underneath the brilliant lights at La Défense Enviornment in Paris.
By Jerome Coombe
For practically 4 many years, the Rolex Paris Masters has been the place the season’s remaining sparks fly. A spot the place champions rise to ship one other dazzling efficiency, the place the group’s roar bounces off the roof and the lights pulse with each forehand.
Few tournaments mix class and energetic chaos fairly like Paris. So it feels becoming that, for its fortieth version, the occasion has moved to La Défense Enviornment, Europe’s largest indoor sports activities venue and a daring new stage for indoor tennis.
“It’s gorgeous. In the event you like tennis, that is the place to be proper now,” mentioned Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 10 participant within the PIF ATP Rankings. “You may see all of the gamers with so many matches, which is nice. Truthfully, the eye to element is second to none. Even the seats for the gamers, every thing is stitched on. It’s stunning.”
The lights on the Rolex Paris Masters are distinctive. Picture: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
The numbers alone inform the story. The 17,500-seat centre court docket makes it the second-largest tennis court docket at a year-round occasion on the planet, behind solely Arthur Ashe Stadium on the US Open.
Located within the coronary heart of Paris’s enterprise district, the Enviornment’s inside is split by 9,000 sq. metres of blackout curtains, making a modern amphitheatre really feel. Inside these partitions are three further match courts, a observe court docket and a devoted fitness center and warm-up zone for gamers.
“I feel it was nice timing to maneuver to our new residence, to rewrite our story, to reinvent ourselves and get greater,” mentioned Cedric Pioline, Event Director. “We’ve got a brand new venue with a brand new setup. The id of the match might be nearer to occasions akin to Roland Garros, the place there’s plenty of noise, plenty of life. That is the path we’re going.”
Watch Cedric Pioline speak via new period at La Défense Enviornment
There has by no means been a scarcity of environment at France’s ATP Masters 1000 occasion. Final yr, Alexander Zverev silenced two residence favourites in entrance of passionate Parisian crowds on his strategy to the title.
Returning to the French capital this yr, the German knew precisely what awaited him — depth, noise, and emotion, regardless of the change of venue.
“I simply get pleasure from taking part in in entrance of an environment. Whether or not it is for me — after all it is at all times nicer when the followers are cheering for you — however I additionally get pleasure from it when the followers are cheering towards you, as a result of there’s nonetheless vitality there, there’s nonetheless noise,” Zverev instructed ATPTour.com. “Whether or not it is for me or for anyone else, it is at all times nicer to play in large stadiums than small ones. It is one thing you at all times dreamed of as a child.”
No match crowd on the planet sounds fairly like Paris. Impatient, theatrical, passionate — it’s a crowd that lives every level. At La Défense, that heartbeat is multiplied. The expanded stands and the acoustic design flip each ‘Allez’ chant right into a rolling wave. For gamers, it’s a brand new form of electrical energy.
Nonetheless, the transfer wasn’t made evenly. The Accor Enviornment in Bercy, the occasion’s longtime residence, was wealthy in historical past: Novak Djokovic’s file seven titles, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s 2008 breakthrough, the pounding bass that signalled the beginning and finish of matches.
Bercy gave the Rolex Paris Masters its claustrophobic depth — the sense that something may occur when the lights dimmed and the music hit. But when these moments belong to reminiscence, additionally they make the transfer really feel earned.
The match has at all times been about evolution: From smoky halls to international stage, from wooden to carbon, from Bercy’s intimacy to La Défense’s scale.
“For the primary version at La Défense Enviornment, the environment is electrical and the ‘Tribune Bleu’ units the courts alight,” mentioned Charles Tonnelier, a fan from the twelfth arrondissement of Paris. “Life off the courts can be very fulfilling, with well-chosen actions contributing to the general festive environment.”
The Tribune Bleu at La Défense Enviornment on Day 3. Picture: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
The “Tribune Bleu”, a gaggle of die-hard French supporters is a brand new component of the setup. They flood the stands, lifting residence gamers and energising the group with their drums and vuvuzelas. The sound swells, chants echo, and color fills the stands in methods Bercy’s tighter construction by no means allowed.
Because the ATP Tour season reaches its remaining stretch, that depth offers French gamers a vital increase. Final yr, Ugo Humbert drew on the house vitality to defeat Carlos Alcaraz en path to his first ATP Masters 1000 remaining.
“As a match organiser, we at all times need French tennis gamers to be supported by the group as a result of this provides worth to the match,” Pioline instructed ATPTour.com. “Everybody needs to play nicely. French tennis gamers need to play nicely. We noticed what occurred with Humbert. We noticed how a lot the group cheered for him. It’s at all times one thing that’s essential.”
Nicolas Mahut” model=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/photos/information/2025/10/30/14/30/mahut-farewell-paris-2025.jpg?w=100percent25″>Nicolas Mahut performs the ultimate match of his profession at La Défense Enviornment. Picture: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
At La Défense Enviornment, it’s nonetheless unmistakably the Rolex Paris Masters. It’s nonetheless that late-season drama as gamers chase qualification for the Nitto ATP Finals, nonetheless that blend of sweat, glamour and high-stakes stress.
However now, it feels reborn. The sector’s glow displays off the glass skyscrapers outdoors, the group surges because the lights fade to inexperienced, and the echoes of Paris’s sporting coronary heart fill the air as soon as once more.
The stage is bigger now. The chaos echoes deeper. The environment, one way or the other, much more alive.
