A deafening silence, only interrupted by the hitting of balls, the announcements of referees and a few cries of the players in full effort. All complemented by a handful of individual encouragement to try to keep the flame alive. This is what the atmosphere of the 2020 Rolex Paris Masters looked like. What generate a lot of frustrations for the actors on the court, but also the spectators in front of their television, especially as the quality was there, starting with the final between Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, won by the first ( 5-7, 6-4, 6-1). But this will only be a bad memory on Monday.
Because one year after the restrictions linked to the coronavirus, the last Masters 1000 of the year will once again be sold out. And it is far from trivial. “We can not wait to find the public, I think we will exceed the sales of Roland Garros (the gauge had been limited to 35%, then 65%, not to mention a curfew from 9 p.m., Editor’s note) while the tournament is played over a week and on a single main court. We are on a 100% gauge. When it is packed, there is an energy in this room (de Bercy) that cannot be found anywhere else“, welcomed Guy Forget.
Rolex Paris Masters
Reconciled with the public, Henri Leconte ignites Bercy in 1992 against Sampras
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“The Davis Cup victory began to take shape with Forget’s success at Bercy in 1991”
Originally, a more popular audience than Roland
On the financial level, the tournament director has much to be satisfied when we know that the event had welcomed 152,000 spectators in 2019. But he knows above all that the event will regain all its salt and that this can not harm the show offered on the court. Because the atmosphere at Bercy has always been special since its first edition in 1986, very different from that of the other major tennis event organized in France, Roland-Garros.
“When the tournament was created, it was a specific audience: an audience of tennis players, but Roland-Garros being very difficult to access, it was not the same. He was arguably more popular socially“, observes Jean-François Caujolle, predecessor of Guy Forget as director of the event from 2007 to 2011. In the enclosure which was formerly called the sports hall of Paris-Bercy, the crowd is indomitable: just as able to carry his favorite, than to push the one who will be the object of his recriminations.
If Guy Forget had used it to conquer the title after a magnificent final against Pete Sampras (7-6, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4) in 1991 – a performance that was going to be useful to him vis-a-vis the same “Pistol Pete” in final of Davis Cup -, his friend Henri Leconte, taken in flu, had, him, lived a true nightmare vis-a-vis John McEnroe three years earlier. Then, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the desertion of the tournament (which often paid its late place in the calendar) by some of the best players in the world somewhat dampened popular enthusiasm.
McEnroe – Leconte 1988: “The worst day of my career”
Night session and light show to attract young people: the turning point of 2008
“When I arrived (as tournament director in 2007, editor’s note), there were between 45,000 and 48,000 tickets purchased. That is to say not much compared to the capacity of the hall of 15,000 seats. If we refuel, we realize that we are more than 100,000 spectators. The rest were often invitations to fill in the gaps on the first three, four days“, explains Jean-François Caujolle. To make Bercy an attractive event again, the new organizing team then made two fundamental decisions: to make combined offers of tickets (those who bought tickets for the tournament had priority over those from Roland) and set up a “night session”.
The effect was immediate: in 2008, the bar of 100,000 paying spectators was crossed. Obviously, the public evolves. Socially, it is now closer to the one that can be found at Roland Garros, but it does not behave in the same way as on the side of the Porte d’Auteuil. To be convinced of this, just remember the fiery atmosphere that had brought Gaël Monfils in the semifinals of the 2010 edition against Roger Federer, yet idol of the crowds.
“We find ourselves in an arena where we do not move. At Roland, we always have the possibility to go out, to rest a little bit, to calm down, to listen to the birds… At Bercy, there is the sound of the ball, the violence of the exchanges. There was this exceptional atmosphere, because there was match point for Federer (five even in this anthology match, Editor’s note) and a turnaround in favor of Gaël. I also think that’s all we brought around: the show, the lights made the atmosphere much more electric as well. We meet in a closed room with part of the public who were also regulars at concerts. It was a deliberate choice to bring tennis to a younger court. We were a bit like the Andy Warhol of the little yellow ball“, s’amuse Caujolle.
Gaël Monfils facing Roger Federer at Bercy in 2010
Credit: Panoramic
A capricious but always electric audience: the Blues will need it
How to forget in the same way the epic of a sacred Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in front of his family in 2008? Like Monfils, Manceau had known how to use the public to successively overcome, each time after three sets, opponents as prestigious as Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian. Without this fundamental support, would he have succeeded? Maybe, but that extra soul is priceless. “This one, I dedicate it to you. It is for you. Everyone participated in my victory,” he had also launched to the public, brandishing the trophy.
Who knows if Ugo Humbert would not have taken his adventure a little further last year in such conditions? Stefanos Tsitsipas’ magnificent winner in the decisive tie-break in the 2nd round, he had bowed out in extremis 9 points to 7 in the same exercise against Milos Raonic in the quarter. With the crowd behind him, in an almost brutal circus arena atmosphere in the spotlight, “underground” as the tournament’s communication called a few years ago, such a tight match could have tipped over.
In the current state of French tennis, such support will not be too much. And this even if the crowd is versatile, as Benoît Paire had also learned the hard way in 2013 after breaking a racquet. “Some people are there for the show. When it’s good, they stamp their feet, howl, much more than at Roland. Conversely, when a player gets angry, they shout ‘ouhhhh’. We must try not to see it with a critical eye“, Guy Forget had rightly pointed out. It is both the limit and the charm of Bercy. And it is above all what gives it its unique soul, which it is preparing to rediscover.
Rolex Paris Masters
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