Tennis fans can look forward to another top event in the Greater Munich region. In August an ATP-Challenger-Tournament will be held at TC Grosshesselohe for the first time.
On Wednesday the organizers presented first information about the first edition of the Isar Open, which, with a total prize money of 127,000 €+H, together with the Sparkassen Open, will be one of the two largest ATP Challenger tournaments in Germany.
“I was a co-organizer of the Neckarcup in Heilbronn from the very beginning and we found it cool to have a similar event in Munich,” says tournament organizer Maximilian Schnabel. “With this idea we at TC Großhesselohe open doors.”
The tournament will take place directly after the Generali Open in Kitzbühel, which traditionally marks the end of the European clay court season. The Isar Open offers an excellent opportunity for players who want to avoid the trip to the United States and extend the “Clay-Court-Swing” a bit more.
“It was the only opening on the ATP calendar. In that sense, we didn’t really have a choice. However, we are very happy with the appointment,” says co-organiser Alessandra Trenkle.
The tournament will have a total budget of 200,000 € to 300,000 €. “The prize money is secured,” Schnabel smiles, but is also happy if more sponsors join. “This would give us the opportunity to make it even more spectacular.”
With the ATP-Challenger-Events in Heilbronn and Braunschweig the makers in Pullach have excellent benchmarks. Both tournaments were honoured by the ATP as “Best ATP-Challenger in the world and this is also the claim of the organizers of the Isar Open.
“We want to be the Challenger event,” they say. “Schnabel states as his personal motivation: “To apply my experience in the field of technical and tournament design and to make the Isar Open a unique experience for both the spectators and the players.
Similar to the role models in the southwest and north of the country, a series of side events will round off the tournament experience during the week. From a “Bavarian Sunday” to a “Caribbean Night” there will be a whole range of events off the beaten track on the courts.
Tournament director Dominik Schulz is jointly responsible for the well-being of the players. Once considered the former No. 10 in the junior world rankings, he himself was a hopeful junior player until injuries kept throwing him back and he finally had to end his professional career in 2014 after several operations on the intervertebral disc.
“I graduated from high school and am currently studying sports and event management in Berlin,” says the 26-year-old. Born in Munich, he also uses the racquet at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in Berlin.
“As a former professional, I know the needs of the players. I would like to use my network to put together an attractive field of players and to offer a special tournament experience. We’re already in good talks. Our focus is of course on the German players,” says Schulz, who has also gained initial experience in the event sector as an intern with the German football league team Hertha BSC.
With Matthias Bachinger, Tim Pütz and Florian Mayer the first three players of the Isar Open 2018 were already presented. “It’s wonderful to have a tournament on your own doorstep, of course.” the present Bachinger is happy and points out that the ATP-Challengers in Germany are always among the best on the tour.
Since the tournament is classified in the so-called “+Hospitality” category, board and lodging will be provided for the players. The finals will take place on Sunday, August 12, not before 1 pm, following a Bundesliga match of the men of TC Großhesselohe.