RENNES, January 19, 2020

The ATP Challenger Tour returns to Europe with the 14th edition of the Open Blot Rennes, the first tournament of the decade to be held on the old continent. The hard-court event will take place from January 20 to 26 at Le Liberté in Rennes and offers a total prize money of €46,600. The champion will receive 80 ATP Ranking points.

The field is led by World No. 152 Sergiy Stakhovsky from the Ukraine, who fell in the second round of the qualifying to the Australian Open to Alejandro Tabilo of Chile. The 34-year-old Kiev native, always a force on fast indoor surfaces, is seeking his eighth ATP Challenger title, his first since his triumph on grass at Ilkley, Great Britain. After a first-round bye, Stakhovsky will take on the winner of the match between Frenchman Maxime Hamou and Nino Serdarusic of Croatia.

In the bottom half of the draw, Oscar Otte will be seeded second. The 26-year-old German lost in the first round of the qualifying in Melbourne and will open his title bid in France against either Lukas Klein from Slovakia or a qualifier. Otte lifted his maiden Challenger trophy at Lisbon, Portugal three years ago and will be joined by Danilo Petrovic. The No. 3 seed from Serbia will play the winner of the encounter between French wild card entry Valentin Royer and Rayane Roumane of France.

Another top-contender for the first Challenger title of the season on European soil will be Lukas Lacko. The fourth seed from Slovakia will start his campaign in Brittany against a local favourite, facing either Antoine Escoffier or Manuel Guinard.

Janowicz returns to the courts

Of special interest will be the comeback of Jerzy Janowicz. The former World No. 14 has been granted a wild card into the main draw and will compete in his first tournament since Bratislava 2017. Janowicz, a three-time finalist on the ATP Tour had to overcome numerous knee injuries in the last couple of years, leaving the top-100 in April 2016. The 29-year-old will take on Tomas Machac from the Czech Republic.

The Open Blot Rennes is one of the top indoor events on the ATP Challenger Tour. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the title in its inaugural edition in 2006 and the tournament would celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2015. It is an integral part of the European indoor hard court swing in January. For tickets, please visit the tournament’s official website.