The RTCL will host the Ethias Province Open from 5 to 12 July. A Challenger 50, announced on Friday at a press conference by Christophe Dister and Constant Bizeul, with Ethias as « main sponsor ». A budget of around 400,000 euros, facilities built for some 900 people, free entry on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
It was that last line that caught the attention of our club league (interclubs, Belgium’s weekend team league) specialist.
Free on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I book two days off, I get there early, I stand behind the baseline to watch the intentions, not the points. A Challenger 50, two practice sessions away, mind you. The level in club league has gone way up, people don’t realise.
The Belgian field is already well advanced. Liège native Gauthier Onclin, at his best ATP ranking, 182nd, will play, along with Gilles-Arnaud Bailly, Buvaysar Gadamauri, Jack Logé, Tibo Colson and Emilien Demanet. Raphaël Collignon, a Top 50 player, Alexander Blockx and Zizou Bergs are ranked too high for this level of tournament. Steve Darcis, captain of the Belgian Davis Cup team and Collignon’s coach, is the tournament’s patron.
The headline name comes from France: Benoît Paire, 37, a former world number 18 and now unranked, has a wild card and will be there. The organisers are still talking to David Goffin, who will play the Wimbledon qualifiers a few days earlier. “We are still in discussion, it would be wonderful to see him say goodbye to his crowd and his region, but a few days earlier he will be playing the Wimbledon qualifiers and he is still uncertain about his schedule,” the organisers said.
A Challenger in Liège, I said it back in January. Not Liège to the metre. The province. The spirit was there.
The tournament is still looking for volunteers. The final will be shown live on Tipik or Auvio.
It’s true, we checked: AFT · Actualités.
