Germany’s only combined women’s and men’s tournament can once again boast a world class line-up this summer. In the men’s event, all Germany’s foremost players headed by the Olympic Champion Alexander Zverev will be competing at the 2023 Hamburg European Open where the top favourite will be the world No. 4 and French Open runner-up Casper Ruud from Norway. In the women’s singles, the world No. 11 Daria Kasatkina, Berlin finalist Donna Vekic and shooting star Anastasia Potapova, whose big role model is Maria Sharapova, will be looking to thrill the Hamburg tennis fans. After entries closed on Monday evening, it is also certain that both last year’s champions – the young Italian star Lorenzo Musetti and Bernarda Pera from the USA – will be defending their titles at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum. Advance tickets for the 117th edition of the clay court classic (22 to 30 July 2023) are available via the online ticket shop.  

“I’m very pleased with the entry lists. We can again present a highly exciting mix of German and international stars from the young and older generations and there are brand-new faces,” says Sandra Reichel. “Advance ticket sales show that many Hamburg residents are looking forward to Alexander Zverev’s hometown return. “I’m also proud that we’ve succeeded in getting Alexander to play at Rothenbaum for the first time since 2019. And I’m also very excited that the trio of Jan-Lennard Struff, Yannick Hanfmann and Daniel Altmaier are in the line-up. All three of them have reached career-high rankings this year and have brought lots of joy to German tennis fans recently.”

Andrea Petkovic is particularly looking forward to Donna Vekic

Tournament ambassador Andrea Petkovic, the retired 2021 Hamburg runner-up, stresses, “It’s a super field for the Hamburg European Open, as always. I’m especially looking forward to Donna Vekic, who plays incredible power tennis and has just had a great week in Berlin.” Sandra Reichel adds: “Personally, I’m eager to see the strong personalities in the women’s field. Daria Kasatkina and Donna Vekic are two big crowd favourites on the WTA Tour! Donna was once considered a prodigy but now after many health setbacks, she’s in the form of her life.” Vekic’s wins in Berlin included one over the Wimbledon champion and world No. 3 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. They have helped her return to the Top 20. Talking about the 22-year-old Potapova (WTA No. 22), Reichel says: “Anastasia won our tournament in Linz in February and has improved immensely. She was already a Wimbledon winner at junior level and is one of the newcomers who has superstar potential for me.” From a national point of view, Anna-Lena Friedsam (WTA No. 87) is sure to be in the main draw. Wimbledon quarterfinalist Jule Niemeier (WTA No. 103) is currently 3rd on the Alternates List.

Men’s main draw field: three Top 20 players and all Germany’s elite set to appear

Germany’s top players will also all be contesting the men’s singles. In addition to the two-time ATP World Champion Zverev (ATP No. 21), Madrid and Stuttgart finalist Jan-Lennard Struff (ATP No. 22), Yannick Hanfmann (ATP No. 48) and Daniel Altmaier (ATP No. 65) will also be appearing. Hanfmann and Altmaier have both caused several sensations this year. The former impressed when reaching the quarterfinals at the Masters tournament in Rome. On the way, he defeated Top 10 players Taylor Fritz (USA) and Andrey Rublev. Altmaier hit the headlines with his quarterfinal run at the Masters event in Madrid and his sensational five-set win over Jannik Sinner (Italy/ ATP No. 8) at Roland Garros.

The ATP entry list is headed by three Top 20 players – clay court specialist Ruud (ATP No. 4), Musetti (ATP No. 15) and Argentine Francisco Cerundolo (ATP No. 19). Behind them are other well-known players such as Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spain/ ATP No. 34) or oldie Richard Gasquet (France/ ATP No. 49), who reached the Hamburg final 18 year ago in 2005. The former world No. 7 Fabio Fognini (Italy/ ATP No. 121), Rothenbaum winner in 2013, is currently “only” on the list of alternates.