The German Tennis Federation (DTB) hopes to continue the European Open as a joint men’s and women’s tournament beyond 2023.
DTB president Dietloff von Arnim named the current first joint event in 44 years at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum venue “a great success” in an interview with broadcasters NDR.
The event is run by Austrian Peter-Michael Reichel and his daughter Sandra Reichel who have the licence for the women’s event, and that for the men’s event until 2023.
A joint event beyond that will require approval from the men’s ATP and women’s WTA, and von Arnim said that “the ATP has signalled in a meeting that they could imagine a joint event in the future as well.”
“We would like to stay in Hamburg with the event,” von Arnim said, aiming for a 15-year contract.
Von Arnim did not want to speculate on a prestigious Masters series event returning to Germany, after Hamburg and Stuttgart staged such men’s events in the past.
But he said Germany would make an effort should the ATP offer such a licence.
