At the just-concluded ATP500 Hamburg Open, 20-year-old Italian boy Mussetti defeated Alcarraz to win the first ATP title trophy of his career.
Hamburg, a clay venue, was a member of the 9 ATP 1000 Masters in 2008 and was the last clay masters before the French Open every year. Since 2009, after Shanghai joined the ranks of the Masters, Hamburg has been adjusted to the ATP 500 level, and the time has also been scheduled for mid-July after Wimbledon.
In Europe's traditional economic and sporting power, germany is the only one that does not have a grand slam or masters tournament. Today, such a situation may usher in a turnaround. ATP President Andrizia Goldenzip recently said in an interview with a German tennis magazine that his plan is to increase the number of ATP 1000 Masters to 10 races, and the United Kingdom and Germany have the same opportunity in Gordonzi's heart.
There is a three-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon every year, with the Queen's Cup in London and Halle in Germany being the highest-level tournaments in between, both ATP 500, and many players will pick one of them as a warm-up for Wimbledon. Of course, because the level of the event lacks appeal, there are also many people who skip it directly and empty the cooling net.
Many surveys of tennis fans show that 70-80% of fans only watch top tennis matches, and they pay very little attention to events below ATP1000. This is a very normal phenomenon, but this 70-80% of fans constitute the main consumer group in the tennis world, whether it is live ticket retail or television broadcasting, the demands of these groups will be taken into account.
Perhaps for this reason, Goldens hopes to add some weight to the already short grass season and partner with the WTA to host a high-level co-ed event, like Indian Wells and Miami.
Both the Queen's Cup and Halle have mature experience in hosting grass-side events, and they have naturally become the main candidates. But Gordonz revealed some of his fondness for Germany in an interview. In the 1990s, he said, Germany was the world's largest tennis market and had a very good mass base.
At present, the schedule of the Queen's Cup and Halle is completely overlapping, and if one of the two is chosen, then the schedule will also be adjusted. Another reason for Goldener's slight preference for Germany is that London already has a lot of tennis tournament resources, in addition to Wimbledon, the ATP year-end finals of previous years were also held at London's O2 Stadium, including this year's Laver Cup. If an ATP 1000 match had been scheduled in London before Wimbledon, players would have gathered in the British capital almost all weeks, ignoring other cities.
Of course, all this is far from conclusive. The high maintenance costs of the grass event, the expansion and upgrading of the stadium required for the event upgrade are also the problems that Gordonzi needs to communicate and coordinate with the German Tennis Association and the organizing committees of the various cities.
Even if the Grass Master finally settles in Germany, it won't necessarily be in Halley. From the perspective of market development and convenient transportation, generally speaking, the highest level of competition held in a country will select its first-tier cities, such as Paris in France, London in the United Kingdom, New York in the United States, Melbourne in Australia, Madrid in Spain, Rome in Italy, Toronto and Montreal in Canada, Shanghai in China, and so on.
Goldenz also admitted that before making the decision to upgrade the event, he will first look at some good cities, such as Munich, Hamburg, and Düsseldorf in Germany. (Source: House of Tennis Author: bobo)
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