Struff, Basilashvili, Kohlschreiber included in new tournament series
The traditional lawn tournament in Halle fell victim to the corona crisis, but numerous tennis stars are coming to East Westphalia this summer. From Monday, the show tournament series "International Premier League" (IPL) will take place in Halle
by SID / red
last edit: Jul 21, 2020, 04:27 pm
Among others, the Davis Cup players Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein), Philipp Kohlschreiber (Augsburg) and Kevin Krawietz (Coburg) have agreed. Laura Siegemund (Metzingen) should also compete with the women if the WTA tour does not start as planned in the coming week. The return of the women's tour is planned for August 3 in Palermo.
For Struff, it's not the first sporting assignment he takes on during the Corona break: German number two has already been in the preliminary round of the German Men's Series, at the Thiem's 7 invitation tournament in Kitzbühel and most recently on grass and hard court in Berlin at the start. There, however, without success. By the way, double specialist André Begemann plays a leading role behind the scenes in Halle.
For Philipp Kohlschreiber it will be the first competition matches since the success in the Davis Cup against Belarus in Düsseldorf in early March.
Basilashvili is the two-time Hamburg winner
From an international perspective, Nikoloz Basilahsvili will probably be the most interesting participant. The Georgian is looked after by Jan de Witt, whose breakpoint base is located in Halle. Basilashvili is in position 27 in the current ATP world rankings and has been successful at the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Hamburg for the past two years.
In total, 190 players in over 450 matches will fight for prize money of 150,000 euros over five weeks. The game will initially be played on the outdoor courts of the Haller Tennis-Arena on hard court and on the ashes courts of the TC Blau-Weiss Halle. Until August 9, up to 300 spectators per day can watch the matches on the two facilities in Halle. The other venues until August 30 have to be confirmed.