ATP Paris-Bercy: Tournament takes place without spectators
The ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy will take place without a spectator this year due to the corona pandemic.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Oct 19, 2020, 08:49 pm
In hardly any other European country is the situation around the coronavirus as dramatic as in France. The COVID-19 cases are exploding, in the past week over 30,000 new infections were reported per day. For this reason, the French government imposed a night curfew on Paris and eight other major cities.
It seemed inevitable that the Paris-Bercy ATP 1000 tournament would take place behind closed doors. Confirmation came on Monday: Contrary to what was initially planned, there will be no spectators at the prestigious indoor tournament this year. The organizers originally expected 1,000 spectators per day .
The corona pandemic also has an impact on the prize money. This year, for example, the winner will receive around 700,000 euros (301,975 instead of 995,720) less than last year. As with the French Open , the losers in the first round receive more money than they did twelve months ago. This decision is justified with the corona-related loss of earnings for the less successful players.
The tournament in Paris-Bercy will traditionally take place immediately after the ATP 500 event in Vienna again this year. From October 31st to November 8th, the best players in the world will win the tournament. However, defending champion Novak Djokovic will not be there .