bett1Aces: The tops and flops of the Berlin week
Seven days in Berlin, six of them peppered with top international tennis on two different surfaces in two interesting locations. The bett1ACES 2020 are history. What was good and what could have gone better? A personal conclusion of the international exhibition tournament.
by Florian Heer
last edit: Jul 20, 2020, 08:15 am
By Florian Heer from Berlin
Tops
+ The venues Both the venerable Steff Graf stadium on the LTTC Rot-Weiß site in the Grunewald district and hangar 6 of the former Berlin Tempelhof International Airport were success factors of the tournament. Exceptional and spectacular.
+ The field of participants A top 10 player led the field of men's and women's competition. With Jannik Sinner and Alexandra Vecic, there were also young hopes at the start. An interesting mix that also led to high quality matches.
“From a sporting point of view, we saw absolute world-class tennis. That was not a matter of course, because there has been no tournament tennis in the past four months, ”said tournament director Barbara Rittner, summarizing the events on the court.
+ The media response International journalists on site and live broadcasts on television. A lot worked behind the scenes like a regular ATP or WTA tournament.
+ The playing surfaces The bett1ACES was probably the shortest lawn season in the history of professional tennis. The cracks in Grunewald were open for three days. One of them was almost completely rainy. Playing on the lush green always conveys exclusivity. In Tempelhof it went on hard court. And the choice of the color of the topping? At least not blue. Almost a unique selling point in these times. What offered variety on the spot gave many viewers criticism on the screens. The recognizability of the ball seemed to be in need of improvement.
Flops
- Player cancellations in advance Despite the strong line-up, the cancellations of Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios were particularly painful. It would have been nice to see the two superstars in Berlin, also because of the previous skirmish. Zverev also missed the opportunity to take a position in Germany to participate in the Adriatic tour and his questionable behavior in the subsequent quarantine period.
- High admission prices The ticket prices were juicy. It was not uncommon for more than 120 euros to be paid for entry. Not a bargain for everyone. As a consequence, especially in the first part of the tournament series on grass, there was still room for improvement in terms of audience appeal.