Embarking on a new journey! Hamburg's premier women's tennis event is entering the future with a new name. The world's largest shipping company, MSC, has become the new title sponsor of the international WTA tournament at Hamburg's Rothenbaum. The event, which will once again be held as a WTA 250 category tournament this year, will be rebranded as the "MSC Hamburg Ladies Open" and will be held at the Rothenbaum tennis stadium from 13 to 20 July 2025.
A perfect match
"I am delighted to have MSC on board as a new name sponsor and title sponsor for our WTA tournament in Hamburg. MSC is a company that is deeply rooted in Hamburg and globally connected. This makes for a perfect pairing with our tournament, which welcomes tennis players from all over the world and can rely on a traditional Hamburg event that has a proud tradition dating back to 1896," explains Tournament Director Sandra Reichel, who can once again count on Andrea Petkovic as tournament ambassador for this year's edition of the tournament. The former top 10 player reached the final four years ago when the WTA tournament returned to the Rothenbaum. "It's incredibly important that we now have even more long-term planning stability thanks to MSC's title sponsorship. This will enable us to further develop the event, which is already one of the most important women's sporting events in the city and northern Germany. Hamburg is also Germany's women's tennis capital. With Eva Lys, Ella Seidel, Noma Noha Akugue and Tamara Korpatsch, four of our top players are at home on the Elbe," says Petkovic.
The beacon shines even brighter
"My goal was to acquire the WTA licence in 2021, which would be a newstep to build a beacon for women's sport as a whole in Hamburg. Thanks to the partnership with MSC, our beacon now shines even brighter, so that we will be even more visible nationally and internationally," adds Sandra Reichel metaphorically, describing the conceptual basis of the tournament as follows: "We want to be more than just a tennis tournament and offer added value beyond the pure tennis event with our four-pillar model. Through side events and additional activities in the areas of women's sport and gender equality, inclusion, young talent and sustainability, we are also contributing to Hamburg’s Active City initiative," adds Reichel. The cooperation with MSC has been contractually agreed for an initial period of two years.
"The Hamburg professional women's tennis tournament has a long history in the city. It is not only a sporting highlight in Hamburg's event calendar, but also reflects values that are close to our hearts as a family-run and globally active shipping company: tradition, community, internationality and top performance. We want to make a long-term commitment to Hamburg and are delighted to be able to contribute to the continuation of the success story of this special tournament as a sponsor," explains Nils Kahn, Managing Director of MSC Germany.
Germany's number one Eva Lys serves in her home town
It is also certain that the German number one in women's tennis, Eva Lys, will compete in front of her home crowd at the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open. The Hamburg native sensationally reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year and has since established herself as Germany's number one. "I'm incredibly looking forward to serving in front of my home crowd again. The support from Hamburg, especially after the Australian Open, was overwhelming. It will be even better to play in the Rothenbaum Stadium again and I hope that a lot of fans will be there during the week of the tournament," said the 23-year-old about her upcoming home match