ATP: Michael Stich’s last day at Rothenbaum

When this year’s German Open comes to an end with the finals, it will also be a special day for the tournament director of the ATP 500 event. Michael Stich accompanied this function at Rothenbaum in Hamburg for ten years. This era ends today.

“After my active time as a professional, this was certainly one of the best tasks, because I was able to stay close to tennis and to this tournament,” concluded Stich. “Now I’ve come full circle: As a child I was a spectator, as a player I started qualifying and won the tournament later. And as tournament director, I was able to contribute to the continuation of the Rothenbaum tradition.”

It was not an easy decade for Stich and the tournament, which was held for the first time in 1892. When the former Wimbledon champion took over in Hamburg in 2009, the tournament lost its title sponsor due to a decision of the administrative court and the downgrading by the ATP into the 500-er category plunged the former Masters event into an uncertain future. While the big stars of the scene such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were regulars at the Rothenbaum, from now on an attractive field of players had to be gathered, probably also partly quite laboriously due to the unfavourable July date in the tournament calendar.

“I wish the outstanding tennis fans here in Hamburg that they will pass on the tournament. Even if we are not allowed to continue, as a complete team we wish that tradition can live on here,” explains Stich. Stich does not, however, have any special wishes for the following organiser.

“Everyone must find his own way. This is not easy in Hamburg. The probability that the tournament will take place on a different date is extremely low within the next five years. It is also 99.9% unlikely that this tournament will go to a hard court on that date. If the ATP calendar does not change fundamentally, the situation here will also remain unchanged,” estimates Stich the current situation.

“Even on the hard court Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray would probably not come. The ten years have shown that you have to go through many ups and downs. But this happens elsewhere in the same way,” says Stich, who sees one reason for this in the willingness of the players.

“I see the players’ argument that they don’t want to change the surface as an excuse. We all used to do this and went from lawn to sand. Surprisingly, they also come from sand on grass. This also seems to work. “In addition, the rubbers have become so similar that it hardly makes much difference anymore.”

Stich would no longer be able to list the tournament winners of the past ten years off the cuff, but there were a few small encounters with people who remained in the 49-year-old’s memory.

For example, viewers addressed Stich directly that they would miss the display of the current time on the center court. “An elderly lady came up to me once and said that she would come to the tournament for over 60 years without ever having missed a single one,” Stich emphasizes the importance of the event for the people in Hamburg.

And what does Stitch’s future look like?

“We have ideas. However, at the moment it makes no sense to transport them. It’s not clear enough yet. We want to continue to cultivate a relationship with our partners and the people here. I cannot and do not want to say yet how this will look in concrete terms,” said the North German. So it remains exciting.