Zverev, Thiem, Kyrgios, Görges serve at the show tournament in Berlin
Alexander Zverev serves up, third in the world rankings Dominic Thiem from Austria is at the start, and Julia Görges also attacks: Despite the corona pandemic, international stars of the tennis scene are competing at show tournaments in Berlin this summer.
by SID / PM / tennisnet
last edit: May 29, 2020, 12:53 pm
First, from July 13th to 15th in the Steffi Graf Stadium on grass and then from July 17th to 19th in the hangar on Tempelhofer Feld. A prize money of 200,000 euros for the competition of the six men and women was awarded by the organizers for the "Bett1Aces".
"After the premiere of the bett1open organized by us as part of the WTA tour had to be postponed to the coming year due to the corona pandemic, we considered how this summer a tennis event with global appeal would still comply with all official requirements can be held in Berlin. We have developed a detailed concept for this, which has been very well received and supported by bett1, thus setting the course for bett1ACES, ”explains Edwin Weindorfer, CEO of the e | motion group and organizer of bett1ACES.
Dominic Thiem: Very excited to see where I stand "
“I think it's extremely cool that things will really get going in Berlin. The Steffi Graf Stadium and Tempelhof Airport are brilliant locations where it will be attractive to play even without a spectator, ”Alexander Zverev is looking forward to his“ home game ”in the federal capital.
"I'm really excited to see where I stand compared to my competitors and I'm looking forward to finally seeing the boys and girls again," added this year's Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem. And Julia Görges has big plans for the "Berlin double pack": "Of course I take these two tournaments very seriously, so I will prepare myself accordingly."
Nick Kyrgios ensures international flair
Australian Nick Kyrgios is also at the start for the men, alongside Görges (Bad Oldesloe) and Andrea Petkovic (Darmstadt), fifth and seventh in the world rankings Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) and Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) take part in the women's competition.
Spectators cannot come due to the current corona restrictions, but TV broadcasts of the duels over two winning sets are planned. Possible third movements should be played in tie breaks.
Actually, the organizers had planned the premiere of the WTA lawn tournament in Berlin from June 13th to 20th. Due to the corona pandemic, the restart of the event was postponed until the coming year. The ATP and WTA tours are currently suspended until at least July 31, 2020.
Thiem is currently at the Generali Austrian Pro Series in Vienna, Zverev has already announced his participation in a tournament series by Novak Djokovic.