After the women's final of the Hamburg European Open, which Dutch player Arantxa Rus (32) won in two sets against Hamburg's Noma Noha Akugue, tournament director Sandra Reichel looked back happily and with satisfaction on the WTA tournament as part of the only combined professional tennis event in Germany - and also ventured a look into the future. "The fact that we had a player from Hamburg in the final was like a reward for all the hard work I've put in over the last few years," she said in view of the sold-out centre court with 10,000 spectators, "it's been the perfect tournament for me so far."
"We clearly want the women's tournament to stay, and we're working on that," said Sandra Reichel. There are also plans to upgrade the WTA tournament from the 250 to the higher 500 category. This is not the only reason why the Reichel family wants to establish the WTA event, for which they acquired a licence three years ago, in Hamburg in the long term. The German Tennis Federation (DTB) has awarded the rights to organise the ATP 500 men's tournament to the Tennium agency from next year.
In order to create the conditions for the establishment of the women's tournament, the Reichel family wants to discuss the situation with all those involved after the tournament and look for solutions. The City of Hamburg expressly supports the plans to continue the women's tournament, which the Reichel family only brought back to the Hanseatic city in 2012 after a 19-year break. "Today, in 2023, this tournament is the result of a development that has taken place here at the Rothenbaum in recent years. And this positive development, especially in women's tennis, has a name for us as the city of Hamburg, namely the name Sandra Reichel," explained Hamburg's State Councillor for Sport Christoph Holstein at the award ceremony for Rus: "This positive development and the tournament will always be associated with her."
This positive development also includes the establishment of supporting events such as wheelchair tennis competitions, the "Tennis for All" inclusion day with the support of the Alexander Otto Sports Foundation, the newly launched U13 Girls Nations Cup and the ECE Kids Cup. But also the necessary expansion and renovation of the stadium, which was completed in 2020, primarily with the help of entrepreneur Alexander Otto. "Getting everyone involved in the stadium expansion together back then was a bigger challenge than the situation now. That's why I'm optimistic that we will find solutions together," said Sandra Reichel.