The Open 13 Provence is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. Thirty years of surprises, epics, emotions but also revelations. Since 1993, the Palais des sports has seen legends pass and sometimes triumph. One of the best known signed his initials with an R and an F. In 2000, Roger Federer was still only a hope in the making when he set foot on the greenset Marseille. âAged 19, the Swiss triumphs over Carlos Moya, then 5e world but must bow in the final against his compatriot Marc Rosset. The Bâlois will win the Marseille tournament three years later.
In 2006, a Majorcan game that had already caused a sensation with a surprise victory at Roland-Garros the previous year appeared at the Palais. He cracks Olivier Rochus at 1is turn into two aces: one to save a match point and the other to end the game. Current co-record holder for the number of Grand Slam victories, Rafael Nadal has never been to the final in Marseille.
The other member of the Big 3, the Serbian Novak Djokovic also thrilled the Palace. But in 2009, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stopped his road to the number one seed in the semi-finals.
« For me, the biggest talent the Open has revealed is clearly Roger Federer », announces Lionel Maltese. The delegate manager of the tournament also quotes Mario Ancic and Grigor Dimitrov. « In recent years, it’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, I even remember his first game here. He had played against a Mikhaïl Youzhny at the end of his career and he had been impressive. » The Greek lifts the trophy in 2019 and 2020. « Then there was Félix Auger-Aliassime [finaliste l’an dernier] and Jannik Sinner [attendu en milieu de semaine]. »
Fils and Van Assche in the footsteps of Grosjean and Gasquet
For many other players, the Open 13 Provence was part of a victorious journey that led to the throne of the ATP rankings. Boris Becker, Yevgueni Kafelnikov, Andy Murray, Daniil Medvedev and Roger Federer are the symbols of this success.
Among the French too, the Open served as a revealer. « Richard Gasquet played here very early », continues Maltese. In 2001, it was a child from Marseille, Sébastien Grosjean, who unfortunately fell on an unleashed Ievgueny Kafelnikov in the final. The same year, the Marseillais will still win the BNP Paribas Paris Masters. « Richard [Gasquet] also started with us very young. »
This year, Arthur Fils (18), semi-finalist in Montpellier ten days ago, hopes to follow in their footsteps. Just like Luca Van Assche, winner of Roland-Garros juniors 2021 and beaten yesterday by Benjamin Bonzi.
