ATP Munich: The good side of the Madrid extension
At the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Munich, you make the best of the new date dictated by the ATP. Hope for a better future makes a sign out of politics.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Apr 23, 2023, 12:41 pm
Who doesn't remember the BMW Open 2015, the 100th edition of the Open Bavarian Tennis Championships at the time? The winner was determined in an Instant Classic on Monday, Andy Murray defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber in the tie-break of the third set. But no sooner had Andy Murray removed his winning lederhosen than he had to hop on the plane to get to the tournament in Madrid. A tough first lap was already waiting for the Scot there: namely Philipp Kohlschreiber!
It is as difficult as moving the tournament in Munich forward in terms of weather and brightness (every minute of daylight counts!) by expanding the 1000s in Madrid and Rome to twelve-day events, with the excuse of having to be in the Spanish capital as quickly as possible , no one in Munich has to stop work prematurely (no names should be mentioned here).
Munich soon a 500?
Otherwise, the last few days have shown that scheduling in mid-April was as difficult as expected. Compared to the parallel events in Barcelona (category 500) and Banja Luka (250), Munich has a geographical disadvantage at this time of year. The field of participants with Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem was still very strong. Matteo Berrettini had also agreed to it.
Apropos: Although there is a state election campaign in Bavaria right now, one should certainly not put every word on the gold scales. But at an evening event on Thursday, the Prime Minister personally assured that if one really plans to climb to the 500 level, one can count on the MTTC Iphitos to have almost every imaginable support. Which would also entail a massive expansion of spectator capacity. Because tickets are rare in Munich: the grandstands have been sold out since yesterday, Thursday. Munich would be the third ATP Tour 500 event in Germany alongside HalleWestfalen and Hamburg. And would, as for the first time this year, be held parallel to Barcelona.
By the way, Andy Murray beat Philipp Kohlschreiber again in three sets in Madrid in 2015. And, like in Munich, also won the title.
Here is the individual tableau in Munich
munichmap