The third was good for Ugo Humbert. After failing in 2021 and 2023, the French tennis number one won the Caen Open this Wednesday, December 11 against the British Cameron Norrie. For the trouble, Humbert did not give details, folding the affair in one hour top time (6-1; 6-3) in front of an audience which would not have been against a little rabbi, a year after the The incredible marathon between the tricolor and Alex de Minaur (3 hours 04 minutes of play). “The level of play is already good. Caen serves as their training ground,” say Marie and Christine in the stands. Just barely. And the tournament is happy about it.
“It’s the perfect preparation. There are big players and playing conditions that we find during the season. I use the tournament to get back into my routines,” confided Ugo Humbert after his final, dulled by this stopover in Caen “during training”. If the Caen Open is not official, it is a useful meeting in full preparation for the tennis season and its first big Australian tournaments at the beginning of January.
“Not an exhibition but a tournament without ATP points”
“It’s not an exhibition,” insists Pascal Vesques, patron of the event. In exhibition, the players are not all out, they are laughing. Here they play. I would say it’s a tournament with no ATP points to defend but I like this slot. We attract good players who come here to find rhythm, mentality, in good conditions. »
Every year, the Calvados tournament strives to convince players and offers itself a nice field. In the quarter-final, Richard Gasquet, for example, defeated Dominic Thiem, winner of the 2020 US Open. In 2018, Daniil Medvedev, then on the rise, passed through Caen. Same trajectory for Elina Svitolina, winner of the tournament in 2017 and 2018. Ugo Humbert, best French player of the moment, faced the former world number eight this Wednesday.
The recipe for this attractiveness: “A family atmosphere, without pressure, international players and a good welcome for the players and their entourage”, summarizes Pascal Vesques. The director cites the logistics, the drivers to pick up the players at the airport in Paris, the accommodation, the provision of the Palais des sports for training or even… sparring partners, which the organization finds for the players.
The new Caen-la-Mer Sports Center makes its contribution. It contrasts with the Zénith de Caen, an unusual former setting for the tennis tournament but not the most suitable. The second edition of the Caen Open at the Palais confirmed the good impressions of the big debut in 2023. For the public, the tournament but also for the players, who benefit from a weight room, physiotherapy and a venue more peaceful.
“The room gives another dimension to the event,” underlined Ugo Humbert. “The players are like at home,” smiles Pascal Vesques, after hearing Cameron Norrie’s thanks for “the welcome given to [son] team, very well received, even if it’s a little cold here (laughs).” In four days, 16,000 spectators attended the matches in an enclosure that was always full or almost full.
The step too high to integrate the official calendar
On Monday, the public saw Elise Mertens (34th player in the world) win the women’s table. On Wednesday, he therefore witnessed the success of Ugo Humbert. Would the audience be similarly celebrating if Caen sought to join the official calendar? “We would no longer have control over the format, the prices. There are a lot of standards, more land is needed. There is a huge gap between what we do and an official tournament,” explains the director.
Financially too. With its budget of around €800,000 (shared between private funds, partnerships and subsidies), the Caen tournament is far from the standards of an ATP tournament. And to reach the best players, a high level of organization would have to be achieved. In its current format, the Caen Open is full and will have allowed those in the know to notice some new features repeated by Ugo Humbert in this pre-season: more net climbs seen in the final… and even afterwards, during a final training session in the empty room. The Caen Open, a playground until the end.
