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Marrakech – Organizers of the Grand Prix Hassan II held a press conference on Tuesday at the Royal Tennis Club de Marrakech to unveil the details of the tournament’s 40th edition. The championship runs from March 30 to April 5 and features a prize purse of €612,620.
Royal Moroccan Tennis Federation (FRMT) Vice President Abdelaziz Laaraf, Royal Tennis Club de Marrakech President Aziz Tifnouti, FRMT Treasurer Hicham Kanouni, and Tournament Director Hicham Arazi addressed local and international media at the club’s Court No. 1 village starting at 4:30 p.m.
The tournament remains the only ATP Tour event on the African continent. It was first established as an ATP Challenger event in 1984 and upgraded to an ATP Tour tournament in 1990. The event moved from Casablanca’s Complexe Al Amal to Marrakech in 2016. This year marks the 10th consecutive edition at the Royal Tennis Club.
Arazi, a former Moroccan tennis star and current Davis Cup captain, outlined the tournament’s direction. In a first for the event’s history, all wild cards will be reserved exclusively for Moroccan players. Reda Bennani, Karim Bennani, and Taha Baadi are the recipients, giving the country’s emerging talent direct exposure to top-level ATP competition on home soil.
The main draw assembles several top 50 players. Italian Luciano Darderi, world No.18 and defending champion after his 2025 title run, leads the field as the top seed. Monegasque Valentin Vacherot sits at No. 2 seed, followed by Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, last year’s finalist, at No. 3. Frenchman Corentin Moutet holds the fourth seed.
Spaniard Jaume Munar, Czech Tomáš Macháč, Frenchman Térence Atmane, and Pole Kamil Majchrzak round out the seeded players. Former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, who won the 2024 title in Marrakech, is also entered. Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, Chinese rising star Shang Juncheng, and young Frenchman Arthur Cazaux add further depth to the main draw.
The qualifying rounds promise their own share of drama. Swiss legend Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion currently ranked 92nd, headlines the qualifiers. He will be joined by Alexandre Müller, the 2023 Marrakech champion, Dutchman Jesper de Jong, Australian Aleksandar Vukic, Frenchman Hugo Gaston, and Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta. Young prospects Hamad Medjedovic and Nicolai Budkov Kjaer are also in the qualifying field.
The tournament runs alongside the ATP 250 events in Houston and Bucharest, marking the start of the clay court season ahead of the Monte-Carlo Masters and Roland-Garros.
Access to the tournament will be entirely free for all throughout the week. The key dates include an exhibition at Jemaa el-Fna on Sunday, March 29. Qualifications and first main draw matches begin on March 30-31. The traditional Kids Day takes place on April 1 at the Royal Tennis Club. A players’ evening is set for March 31. The doubles final is scheduled for April 4, with the singles final on April 5 starting at 2 p.m.
Tifnouti credited the support of the Wilaya of the Marrakech-Safi Region, local authorities, the Marrakech City Council, and FRMT President Faïçal Laraïchi for making the edition possible. Two Moroccans have previously won the singles title: Arazi himself in 1997 and Younes El Aynaoui in 2002.
Read also: Morocco Named Best African Country in Tennis for 7th Year in a Row
