The Hamburg European Open is back with its second ATP/WTA combined event at the Rothenbaum Tennis Stadium since 1978. Thrilling tennis action will kick off Saturday at 10:30 am local time with qualifying matches. Once again, the tournament has attracted top-ranked players from around the world, vying for glory and valuable ranking points on the red clay courts.

Daniel Elahi Galan leads the 16-man qualifying event of the ATP 500 tournament, seeking one of the four spots in the main draw. The 27-year-old Colombian, who is currently sitting at a career-high World No. 56, will take on local wild card entry Max Hans Rehberg in the first round. Galan is joined by fellow Top 100 player Pavel Kotov, ranked World No. 89, who will start his qualifying campaign against Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalik. Five-time ATP Tour titlist Cristian Garin of Chile and Brazilian youngster Thiago Seyboth Wild round out the Top four seeds.

Kudermetova top seed in WTA qualifying event

Twenty-four talented women have also gathered in Hamburg, each with a burning desire to secure one of the six coveted spots in the main draw of the WTA 250 tournament. World No. 151 Polina Kudermetova, a winner of six singles titles on the ITF Pro Circuit and younger sister of World No. 12 Veronika Kudermetova, is the top-ranked player. She will face Magali Kempen from Belgium in her opening match.

Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan is seeded second. The 22-year-old from Ljubljana will take on Berfu Cengiz of Turkey. Germans Karin Hobgarski, Lena Papadakis, Kathleen Kanev, Mona Barthel and Julia Middendorf are also part of the line-up, trying to delight their home crowd with first-round victories.

Main draw ceremonies for the Hamburg European Open are scheduled for Saturday, 1 p.m. local time, at the LEXUS Forum Hamburg.