Tennis - After organizer change: Zverev as crowd magnet
The new director of the ATP500-Tournament in Hamburg drew a positive balance of this year's edition of the traditional event. However, Enric Molina also sees room for improvement. "We are super, super happy about the audience response", said the Spaniard before the finals. 75,000 tennis fans came in the past few days. That's an increase compared to 2023 with 11,000 spectators.
Overall, the feedback was positive, mentioned Molina. "But there are still many, many things to improve", he added, without going into detail.
In the fall of 2022, the German Tennis Federation (DTB) announced a controversial change of the host for the Men's tournament at the Hamburg Rotherbaum. From 2019 to 2023, the event was organized by the Austrian MatchMaker company of the Reichel family. They only remained responsible for the organization of the Women's 125-Tournament, which this year took place from 4th to 10th August also at Rothenbaum.
Zverev was the only Top-Ten player
Since then, the company Tennium is responsible for the Men in Hamburg. The contract runs for five years initially. The new organizer sees the Hamburg tournament as a long-term investment, emphasized Molina. "One has seen that the tournament has taken a step forward", said DTB-President Dietloff von Arnim. The interest of the DTB is "to make the best out of the ATP license".
It's clear that the tournament cannot do without Alexander Zverev. The Hamburg native was the only Top-Ten player. Despite his knee injury from Wimbledon, he participated, fought his way through and reached the final in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
"It's important to have Sascha here", emphasized Molina. He is, however, optimistic, future "some world-class players here". Perhaps the new schedule will help in the coming year. Then the tournament takes place directly before the climax of the clay-court season, the French Open. Due to the Grand Slam tournament in Paris, the tournament in Hamburg will start on Sunday, May 18, 2025, and the final is planned for Saturday, May 24, 2025. According to Molina, the tournament should also have a title sponsor then.
- Alexander Zverev, the Hamburg native and the only Top-Ten player at the ATP500-Tournament in Hamburg, demonstrated his resilience by participating despite a knee injury from Wimbledon, reaching the final with the support of an enthusiastic home crowd.
- The German Tennis Association (DTB) acknowledges the significant progress made by the new organizer, Tennium, in managing the Men's tournament in Hamburg, with DTB-President Dietloff von Arnim expressing his aim to make the most of the ATP license.
- The new schedule for the ATP500-Tournament in Hamburg, which will take place directly before the French Open clay-court season starting on May 18, 2025, is expected to boost the tournament's reputation and attract more world-class players, as suggested by the event's director, Enric Molina.
- In analyzing the attendance data from previous years and the 2024 edition, the German Tennis Association's Datenbank reveals that the tournament has experienced a substantial boost in crowd sizes, with 75,000 fans attending this year, an increase of 11,000 spectators compared to 2023.
