License of the WTA tournament in Nuremberg migrates to the Rhineland
The previous WTA tournament in Nuremberg is to be held in the Rhineland from 2021.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Jan 20, 2020, 07:32 pm
The license of the Nuremberg tennis tournament remains in Germany. A company around the former manager of the Cologne Haie ice hockey club, Oliver Mueller, has acquired the rights to hold the competition in the week before the French Open after protracted, complex negotiations. "We are pleased that we can again present world-class tennis in the Rhineland from 2021. This is an event with great appeal for the region, ”Mueller told tennisnet.com . At the moment it is not yet officially known exactly where the tournament will take place, but insiders expect Cologne to be set as a practical future location. In a press release, Mueller emphasized that several locations in the Rhineland could be considered. The final decision should be made in spring, then the pre-sale will also start.
According to reports, the sale of the Nuremberg license has been struggling for months. However, the deal was then delayed due to unexpected complications with the new licensing company, one of the crucial minds fell very seriously short-term. This is one of the reasons why Mueller had to refrain from starting the tournament in 2020. "My heart would have preferred to start this May, so to speak, but my head says: We now have to prepare everything carefully and then organize a top event," says the future tournament director, who is known in tennis as head of the challenge tournament in Karlsruhe is.
"Cologne Open" as tournament name?
Mueller had recently spoken to players about a start in spring 2021 on some business trips. The first business partners have already been won for the tournament, in a region where the Düsseldorf World Team Cup had recently disappeared from the tennis scene. Cologne was also the location of an ATP tournament in the 70s and 80s. Well-known staff started at the Cologne Cup of impresario Jochen Grosse, not least the later number one man Ivan Lendl. According to information from the Cologne media, the ladies' tournament "Cologne Open" should mean that the Maritim-Hotel am Heumarkt will be the official tournament hotel, according to the "Stadt-Anzeiger" on its website on Monday evening.
The tournament of the Austrian Reichel family had taken place in Nuremberg from 2013 onwards. After the withdrawal of the main sponsor, the Nürnberger Versicherung, the economic perspective was missing in the Franconian metropolis. Most recently, the previous tournament director Sandra Reichel said in a press release that they wanted to concentrate on the events in Hamburg (men) and Linz (women).