Tennis Challenger Hamburg before the start
On Monday, the "Tennis Challenger Hamburg presented by Tannenhof" (21-27 October) starts at the DTB base in Hamburg-Horn. Wildcards for the peloton will be given to junior players Daniel Altmaier, Louis Weßels, Johannes Härteis and Milan Welte. Julian Reister and Tobias Kamke compete together for the last time in doubles. Blind Tennis Exhibition at Active City Inclusion Day.
by press release
last edit: Oct 18, 2019, 08:13 am
The countdown is on for the premiere of the new ATP Challengers in Hamburg: On Monday, the 21st of October at 10:00 am, the hall event will start at the DTB base in Hamburg-Horn. "We are ready for the start," says tournament director Mirco Westphal from the organizing German Tennis Federation, which is particularly looking forward to the outstanding field of participants. "We were really pleasantly surprised by how many well-placed players reported to us. It is especially nice that many German tennis pros will be playing in Hamburg. Now we hope for a lively audience and a good utilization of the hall on all days. "
Top of the 46,600 Euro event is young Swede Mikael Ymer, who is predicted by connoisseurs to have a bright future. These include the Belgian Davis Cup players Steve Darcis and Ruben Bemelmanns as well as the former World Ranking Twelfth Victor Troicki from Serbia and the Rothenbaum winner of 2006, the Spaniard Tommy Robredo. From the German point of view, a total of 14 participants can be found in the main draw, including the two Hamburg Tobias Kamke and Mischa Zverev, who no longer needs his wildcard after the refusal of Indian Ramkurar Ramanathan.
Double wildcard for Kamke and Reister
The now free wildcard for the main draw remains open until the draw on Saturday. The young German players Daniel Altmaier, Louis Weßels, Johannes Härteis and Milan Welte will be on the starting line with a wildcard. "We have given these wildcards to our junior players, because for them such events are an important springboard on the way to the aspired professional career. It will certainly be interesting how the boys assert themselves in this strong field, "said DTB sports director Klaus Eberhard.
This is in the spirit of Christoph Holstein, the State Councilor for Sport of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg: "One of the goals of the Active City strategy is to create a link between junior and top athletes. For the future of tennis it is important to give the talents the opportunity to earn points in the world rankings in Germany as well and to establish themselves in international competition. For this purpose, the Active City Hamburg makes an important contribution with this tournament and at the same time is sustainably strengthened as a tennis location. "
Young players are not Tobias Kamke and Julian Reister, a wildcard for the double receives the Hamburg duo nonetheless - and with good reason: The 33-year-old Reister has actually finished his career, but returns again to meet in his hometown and with his longtime companion befitting of the German tennis court to say goodbye. "It was originally Tobi's idea that we compete together again in the doubles here. At first I thought he was kidding, but now I'm looking forward to the week, "says Julian Reister, who now works as coach of Tobias Kamke and will also look after him in the individual competition in Hamburg. "I think it's good that in addition to the Rothenbaum there is now a second ATP-level tournament in Hamburg. Basically, I like to play in the hall and we have been training diligently in Horn for the last few days, "says Tobias Kamke.
Wheelchair tennis integrated in the program
On the Saturday of the tournament, an Inclusive event will be held as part of the Active City. National coach Niklas Höfken presents the sport of blind tennis at an exhibition, supported by the players Charlotte Schwagmeier (Löhne / Westphalia), Bastian Kaller (Löhne / Westfalen) and Michael Wahl (Cologne) as well as coach Stefan Fasthoff (Hamburg).
Afterwards all spectators have the opportunity to try out their own dark glasses, to orient themselves without sight or to catch jingle balls. Tournament Director Mirco Westphal: "To give the topic of inclusion a platform is very important to us. That's why it was not a question for us to integrate blind tennis into the program after last year's wheelchair tennis. I have the utmost respect for the performances of the athletes with limited sensory perceptions and I am very excited about the demonstration. "