What future for the Moselle Open? Last May, France Bleu Lorraine revealed to you that the Messin tennis tournament could change hands.
On the table, two projects: one carried by four minority shareholders, including the former president of the Moselle Open, Eric Lucas and the other supported by a majority of the current shareholders and carried by two former French tennis players, including a certain Jo Wilfried Tsongawinner of the Messin tournament four times.
Just retired from the courts, he played the last match of his career at Roland Garros last May, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could therefore bounce back in Metz and take the reins of the Moselle Open, of which he was the ambassador for several years.
With his former coach and friend, the former tennis player, Thierry Ascione, the former French N°1, created, All In Moselle. The statutes of this company were also filed last May with the Commercial Court of Grasse, in the Alpes Maritimes.
According to our information, this duo transmitted, last April to the shareholders of the Moselle Open, a project to take over the Messin event. A majority of them would have responded favorably to this proposal, which was studied last Wednesday at an extraordinary general meeting.
But fearing that the tournament will leave Metz in the medium term, Eric Lucas has decided with other minority shareholders to assert his right of first refusal and to set up a counter-project to buy back the Moselle Open.
Behind the scenes and on the court, a bitter battle seems to be looming.
Tsonga and his other Lyon projects
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a particularly active new retiree. Already in Lyon, he is going to open a tennis academywith his friend and former coach, Thierry Ascione.
This former pro player is also the director of the Open Parc Auvergne Rhône Alpes, an ATP 250 tournament organized just before Rolland Garros.
Thierry Ascione was also a shareholder of the Moselle Open in the early 2010s. He sold his shares in 2016.