"Playground for everyone" - Let's go to the Racket Sports World at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix!
The Racket Sports World will take place for the first time as part of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2023 - lots of fun for everyone!
by Florian Goosman from Stuttgart
last edit: Apr 20, 2023, 01:19 pm
Do you know that too? You go to a tennis tournament and - filled with so much inspiration - would love to hit a few balls yourself... but nothing to do. You're not a professional. It's different this year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Everyone can play here! Because you have added, or rather: the gates opened in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle. While the most important games of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix are being fought in the Porsche Arena, the adjoining Schleyer Hall houses the "Village": with catering, sales stands and the training court right in the middle for that close-up professional feeling when it comes to a well-hit tennis ball (greetings by Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina).
If you want to have a go yourself, even if you don't have enough, you can do that this time. Behind the booth of a well-known tennis retailer at Racket Sports World. Five tennis-related sports are presented here, in addition to the well-known badminton and table tennis, as well as newer tennis variants. Padel, for example, which is slowly becoming a concept in Germany after Spain – more and more clubs are building padel courts, and the companies involved are also pumping in a lot of money. Or Street Racket with its umpteen variations: a few people, some free space, chalk – that's almost all it takes.
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Touch tennis: Just feeling is not enough
The touch tennis court, a miniature tennis court so to speak, is always occupied in the Racket Sports World. Behind it are Ingo and Mitko, who imported the game from England a few years ago and sell it in Germany under Powwowtennis. There is a permanent court here in Stuttgart, but the really cool thing is that touch tennis can be played anywhere, from the school yard to a freshly mowed lawn. The special foam ball is a bit heavier than the well-known softball, you can accelerate it extremely, but after the bounce it becomes slow. Result: Long rallies, lots of fun and generally something that is associated with manageable costs. When in doubt, a few children's rackets will do the trick.
"It's really a low-budget alternative," explains Ingo. The first German championship will even take place at the weekend. Touch tennis is topspin training in perfection, because the ball likes to sail out without spin. The makers are always standing on the court themselves, music is blaring from the speakers, the two are convinced that everything needs to be a little more relaxed. "I'm pretty much through after the five days so far," says Mitko during a break in the game and laughs - before he is called over to the padel, a fourth player is missing here for doubles.
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"Tennis club of the future will be more of a racket club"
Quite relaxed, then, the situation in the Racket Sports World. The idea for this came from Lars Zimmermann, formerly with the Challenger in Braunschweig (keyword: tennistainment), later responsible for the legends matches at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and since this year the new tournament director of the Koblenz Open. He says he's been carrying around the idea of the Racket Sports World for ten years. "I've been a big fan of side events since Braunschweig." Shortly before the premiere in Stuttgart, Corona intervened, now finally the premiere in cooperation with the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and specifically tournament director Markus Günthardt. "I believe that the tennis club of the future will be more of a racquet club," says Zimmermann, "and this is a true way of playing for everyone. Our courts are full from morning to night.”
So the tennisnet tip of the day: off to the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, if only for pure fun. You can do that with the regular tournament ticket, but also without it: Since this year there's a kind of "Ground Ticket" starting at 22 euros, with access to Court 1, the training court in the Village and Racket Sports World.
For everyone who gets tingling fingers just by looking at a bat and ball.
You can find more information about Racket Sports World here !
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