ATP Challenger Tour: The rocky road back
Despite the persistent corona pandemic, the mandatory break in international professional tennis should end in mid-August. The Grand Slam tournaments in New York and Paris are scheduled. The ATP tour also plans to run its Masters events on clay in Madrid and Rome. But what does this mean for the base of the traveling circus? Only in early July did ATP publish a preliminary calendar for its Challenger tour. The search for venues was not easy. Nevertheless, the start is planned for August 17th. We asked around some organizers.
by Florian Heer
last edit:
Jul 15, 2020, 12:31 pm
Four weeks, four countries. This is the short summary of the planned restart of the ATP Challenger Tour. It starts with Italy and the Czech Republic, where tournaments are planned in Prague, Todi, Trieste and Ostrava. Various exhibition events have already taken place in these countries in recent weeks, some with spectators. A hard court swing with two consecutive tournaments in Orlando, Florida is also planned as part of the US Open. At the same time, the clay court season in Europe continues, including the Open Pays d'Aix in Provence, France, under the direction of tournament director Arnaud Clement.
Tour events in Germany?
In Germany, the summer events have already been canceled or postponed to the next year. This applies to the Schwaben Open in Augsburg as well as the Stadtwerke Open in Meerbusch. The latter hosted the men's semi-finals as part of the DTB German Pro Series.
The Challenger Tour would not return to Germany until the beginning of the indoor season. The ongoing corona pandemic does not make a tournament event in closed rooms much easier. Dr. Peter Auernhammer, tournament director of the Wolffkran Open in Ismaning, sees the chance of being held at 50:50. A final decision is expected in the next few days.
Eckental Challenger according to plan
In contrast, one is more positive in Franke. The traditional Eckental Challenger is scheduled to take place in November. "We submitted a concept to the responsible ministry and to the ATP," explains co-organizer Fabian Reisch on request. One assumes a tournament without spectators. At the restart, the ATP announced what requirements the organizers must meet. The tournaments will again be held over 9 days with a 32-man main field and 16 players in the qualification. However, the number of doubles can be limited to 12.
Additional requirements state that a limited number of ball children and line judges are used. In general, as few people as possible should stay on the site. Masks are mandatory. Catering should be avoided if possible. Daily temperature tests with infrared thermometers must be carried out. The personal data already known from other leisure facilities will also be used.
"For this we will receive compensation from the corona find of the ATP", explains Reisch. “We want the tournament not to die. We are convinced that if we take a break, it may not come back. ”The role of sponsors also plays an important role. "We are determined to keep the tournament going even under these special circumstances."
No restart in Überlingen
At Lake Constance, there was already no staging in 2020. The Überlingen Open, as part of the ITF World Tennis Tour, would have been the first regular international tennis event in Germany since the compulsory break. Mid-August was the original date for the event.
"The feeling and the security you want to have yourself was not given," said tournament director Markus Dufner, explaining the decision in the tennis podcast "Challenger Corner".
"Of course, there are also the conditions where the athletes would have had to be very delimited. This is rather difficult to design on our small system. The players are actually enjoying our family atmosphere in the club. Unfortunately, this would not have been possible. "
Challenges that some of the smaller events will face over the next few months.