Play In Challenger Lille: Previewing France's biggest pro tennis tournament north of Paris

The Tennis Channel Showcase events continue this week in France, adding another chapter of high-level international competition to the European indoor season.

The Play In Challenger Lille, the country’s biggest professional tennis tournament north of Paris, returns from Feb. 16-22 at the Tennis Club Lillois Lille Métropole. Upgraded in 2025 to an ATP Challenger Tour 125 event with $225,000 in prize money plus hospitality, the hard-court tournament continues to grow in stature.

Misolic leads the field

This eighth edition features the strongest field in the event’s history, highlighted by three Top 100 players: Austria’s Filip Misolic, Britain’s Jacob Fearnley and France’s Hugo Gaston.

Misolic will begin his title bid against Spain’s Martin Landaluce. The world No. 81 is targeting his fifth ATP Challenger career title, his first of 2026 and his first on hard court. Having won just one match so far this season, Misolic is searching for confidence as he looks to rebuild momentum.

Fearnley headlines the bottom half of the draw and arrives in France in solid form, having reached the quarterfinals of the Bahrain Tennis Open in Manama and delivered a strong performance for Great Britain in the Davis Cup Qualifiers against Norway. The world No. 84 will face Clement Chidekh of France in the opening round.

Gaston, one of nine French players in the main draw, makes his debut appearance in Lille. However, he will not feel like a stranger in the region. The world No. 96 represents Tennis Club Boulogne-sur-Mer and helped the team win the French Pro A interclub championship in November. He will open his campaign against Austria’s Sebastian Ofner.

Bouquier ready to defend his title

Defending champion Arthur Bouquier, who enjoyed a fairytale run to the trophy last year after coming through qualifying, has been awarded a wild card for this edition. The former world No. 189 will start against a qualifier as he looks to secure his first match win of the season.

Sixteen-year-old Moise Kouame is another name to watch. At the beginning of the month, he became the sixth-youngest player this century to qualify for an ATP Tour event at the Open Occitanie in Montpellier. Currently ranked No. 14 in the ITF Junior Rankings, the Paris native is aiming to take the next step on the professional circuit. Kouame has already claimed two ITF World Tennis Tour titles this season, both on home soil in Bressuire and Hazebrouck in January. He will also face a qualifier in the first round.

Other promising young players in the draw include Germany’s Justin Engel, Austria’s Joel Schwaerzler and fourth seed Alexander Blockx of Belgium.

Harris wins back-to-back titles

Finally, Lloyd Harris arrives in Lille riding a 10-match winning streak. The South African captured back-to-back Challenger titles in Soma Bay, Egypt, and at the Tenerife Challenger 2 on the Canary Islands last week, carrying significant momentum and confidence into the French indoor event.

“It was a big battle, a very long match in two sets but in the end, I played two fantastic games to break in each set and played all the big points well. That was key today,” said Harris after beating Spaniard Alejandro Moro Canas 7-5, 7-5 in Sunday’s final to lift his eighth trophy on the Challenger Circuit.

The 28-year-old reached a career-high ranking of 31 in September 2021 but has had to deal with numerous injuries in recent years.

“It’s a new career for me, it’s a new start,” Harris said. “It feels like I am starting a new process from nothing. I prefer not to compare it to the past. It was a younger me and I had to undergo many surgeries. I am just trying to improve day by day now and that’s more important for me.”

The world No. 151 will take on Jerome Kym of Switzerland in his first-round match.