He fell to the ground and was overcome by emotion. Unanimously recognized for the aesthetics of his game and the quality of his tennis, Grigor Dimitrov, 32, won the ATP 250 tournament in Brisbane this weekend, his first trophy in 6 years.
The Bulgarian, currently 13th in the world, was one of the highest ranked players on the circuit at his best. He is not a six-week-old rabbit as they say in Provence. This strong success against Holger Rune, after so many years of waiting, proves both the intact talent of the boy and the very high level – despite the retirement of Roger Federer and the long absence of Rafael Nadal – of men’s tennis .
Dimitrov will be in Marseille from February 5 to 11 for the 2024 edition of the Open 13 Provence. This is not the first time and it is good news for a field, which we were able to consult and which promises to be of quality at the Palais des Sports.
Besides Dimitrov, three other top 20 will be there: Jannik Sinner (4th), Hubert Hurkacz (9th) and Karen Khachanov (15th). The first, a real rising star in recent months, is expected to play the leading roles in the years to come. Jean-François Caujolle, the founder and director of the Open, saw in the Italian, in the recent past, a “future world number 1”. The Pole Hurkacz, title holder, will have a hard time keeping his title.
Murray, first in Marseille since 2008
But the real event is the presence of the iconic Andy Murray. Certainly the Scot is heading at full speed towards his 37th birthday (in May). Certainly his years of greatness are already far away. Certainly he endured physical suffering which damaged his body as a (great) champion. But Murray remains Murray, the one who was the essential fourth thief of the golden era to compete with Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic. An image and the ability to deliver, again and again, some beautiful scores. He is still in the upper echelons of the ATP rankings, with his 44th place in the world.
For his probable last year on the circuit, the three-time Grand Slam winner (Wimbledon 2013 and 2016, US Open 2012) opted for Marseille in the wake of the Australian Open, which begins in a few days.
The man who won the Challenger tournament in Aix-en-Provence last year had only come to the Marseille city once, in 2008. He won the tournament, beating out Wawrinka, Mahut, Mathieu and Ancic in particular. . Announced in 2019, he finally had to withdraw due to injury.
Berrettini and Shapovalov invited, a third wild card granted by the FFT
If we can also note, and among others, the presence of Félix Auger-Aliassime (27th) and Sebastian Korda (29th), three wild cards (invitations) are to be issued. The tournament chose to bring in Matteo Berrettini and Denis Shapovalov, two players returning from injury. The Italian, 27, has played top 10 for several years, won 7 career tournaments and reached the Wimbledon final in 2021. The third wild card will be granted by the French Tennis Federation to a French player.
At the gates of the top 20, the Frenchman Ugo Humbert (25 years old), who had a heroic week for his first visit to Marseille in 2019 (semi-finalist), will come for the third time to the Palais des sports. Three years ago, behind closed doors of a health bubble edition (in 2020, the tournament took place just before the storm), the Mosellan (21st in the world) also reached the last four.
How many other French people will be in the main draw? Given the density of an edition which promises to be particularly competitive, it’s difficult to say. Will Richard Gasquet, for example, enter directly in the first round? Finalist last year, will stage local Benjamin Bonzi have to go through qualifying? So many questions whose answers will come in the weeks to come.
2024-01-09 11:11:29
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