The Lyon Open, also called the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon, is a clay court tournament and is one of the newer tournaments on the ATP Tour after launching in 2017. Today, it is one of four French ATP 250 competitions on the ATP calendar. Originally, an ATP competition in Lyon took place between 1987 and 2009 on indoor hardcourts.
Following the end of the Open de Nice Côte d'Azur in Nice on the ATP schedule, the Lyon Open emerged as an ideal replacement. In 2017, the first competition took place and proved a success, with former French player Thierry Ascione leading the competition as tournament director.
Because the Lyon Open takes place on clay courts, often in May, many players use the lower-ranked event as a warm-up ahead of the Roland Garros in Paris. Due to this, many star players head to Lyon to get some essential practice ahead of the third major of the season.
At the competition, 28 players compete in the singles event. While 20 players qualify based on ranking, four must earn a place through qualifying, while four gain wildcard entries. Moreover, the Parc de la Tête d’Or hosts a 16-pair doubles competition.
With many top-quality players entering the Lyon Open each season, a competitive field often goes head-to-head at the event. In recent seasons, Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas have won the Lyon Open.
However, the singles draw winners have largely been of French origin in recent years. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the first-ever Lyon Open in 2017 before his compatriots Benoit Paire and Arthur Fils won the title in 2019 and 2023, respectively.
Lyon is a known tennis city, and it has also hosted a WTA event in the past, with another iteration of the WTA event running from 2020. It was added to the WTA calendar before the 2020 season, and it was played on indoor hard courts at the Palais des Sports Gerland, which holds a capacity of 5,910 seats.
However, the tournament was held only four times, also called the Open 6ème Sens, was discontinued after the 2023 season, not being part of the WTA calendar in 2024 anymore.
