The 2017 Lyon Open tournament is the ATP’s return to Lyon after an eight-year absence. The tour had been in Lyon as a hardcourt event for over 20 years, through 2009. Now it is back as a clay event, the final tune-up before Roland Garros. The first edition of this event has a star-studded field, much better than one would normally expect for an ATP 250 event.
The competition in the 28-player main draw begins on Sunday, May 21.
Event Details
Event: Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon
Category: ATP 250 Series
Date: May 21 – 27, 2017
Location: Parc de la Tete d’Or – Lyon, France
With a prize money allotment of 482,000 Euros, this tournament is competitive with the other ATP 250 events. Players will be intent on seeing how this inaugural event fares on various levels. Feedback will play a role in shaping the level of participation from well-known players in future seasons.
Points
Champion – 250
Runner-up – 150
Semifinal – 90
Quarterfinal – 45
Player Info:
A hamstring injury kept Milos Raonic out for a while but he made a successful comeback in Istanbul, where he just fell short of a title. Raonic’s next tournament in Madrid wasn’t as fruitful and he went down to David Goffin in straight sets in the third round. In the ongoing tournament in Rome, he looked solid in his first outing. Raonic cruised past Tommy Haas in two easy sets to book his place in the third round. He reached the quarters but had nothing left against Alexander Zverev. He’ll get another chance to test himself in Lyon.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdrew from his match against David Ferrer in Madrid and missed the Rome Masters. However, Tsonga is committed to play in Lyon in order to get match ready for Roland Garros. The Frenchman was in decent form in the hardcourt season and was expected to continue his good run on clay, but his shoulder has betrayed him. That shoulder will be tested again in Lyon.
Nick Kyrgios had a very good hardcourt swing, but the same can’t be said about the clay season so far. Kyrgios was completely outclassed by Rafael Nadal in Madrid. The Australian was so out of sorts that he managed to win only four games in his third-round encounter against the greatest clay courter of all time. Kyrgios was expected to do well in Rome but he ruled himself out of the tourney with a hip injury. Now there are doubts on whether he’ll participate in a 250-pointer in Lyon.
Juan Martin del Potro had to withdraw from the Estoril Open following the death of his grandfather and entirely missed the Madrid Masters. The tall Argentine just finished playing in Rome, where he registered a couple of wins. In a thrilling first-round match, he overcame Grigor Dimitrov in three sets. In the next round, Del Potro beat Kyle Edmund in straight sets and guaranteed himself a seeding in Paris. The tough draws he used to endure will now be somewhat less daunting. Del Potro has looked solid with his forehand and has handled important moments as any top player would. Winning the tournament in Lyon won’t be easy but Del Potro has accomplished difficult tasks in the past.
Borna Coric was a lucky loser in the main draw at the Mutua Madrid Open but made most of his second chance. Coric made a surprising visit to the quarterfinals of a Masters event for the second time in his young career. On the way, he dismissed World No. 1 Andy Murray in more than convincing fashion. He’d like to bring that form to Lyon, where if he can play well, he could possibly end up winning the tournament.
Parc de la Tete d’Or
The intimate garden park in Lyon offers a spacious, tucked-away place for this new tournament. Within the park is the tennis village, which has made room for a 4,000-seat central court and three outside courts. Lyon had hosted an ATP Tour event from 1987 through 2009, but that was an indoor hardcourt event in a building called the Palais des Sports. With the French Open right around the corner, expect the locals to be quite excited to feel tennis fever.
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