HAMBURG, December 4, 2023 (Press Release)
“Angie” is set to appear in Hamburg! After taking time off to have a baby, the former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber will play the 2024 Hamburg European Open on her comeback trail. It will be a home game and a premiere for the “local” hero who grew up in Kiel, a 90-minute drive away. The 35-year-old has never played a WTA tournament in northern Germany before. “For me as a North German, it feels a bit like coming home,” says the three-time Grand Slam champion. Her tennis club as a junior – TC Alsterquelle – is only 20 kilometres away from Hamburg’s Stadtpark.
Replacing the Rothenbaum stadium next year, the Stadtpark will be the one-off venue for the tournament due to the timing and logistics of the Olympic year. Tickets for the “boutique tournament” taking place from 20 to 26 July are available via the hotline + 49 1806-991175 and the online shop. Centre Court tickets for the main draw are available from 35 euro.
“As a child, I often went to the Rothenbaum tournament. Now I’m looking forward to competing in Hamburg for the first time,” says Angelique Kerber. “The city has a great tennis tradition with lots of fans. It’ll be a premiere for me as the event has a home-feel to it. Tennis is currently enjoying an upturn in Germany, and it’s all the more important that there’s also a world-class WTA tournament in the north of the country.”
The Rio 2016 silver medallist wants to use the WTA 250 clay court tournament to have the best possible preparation for the Paris Olympic Games set to begin in the evening on 26 July. The tennis competitions will take place on the same surface at Stade Roland Garros. After being out of the game for one-and-a half years – her daughter Liana was born in February 2023, Kerber is currently preparing for the season opener in Australia. The left-hander, who played her last competitive match Wimbledon in July 2022, has already confirmed her participation at the United Cup and in Adelaide. Her long-time coach Torben Beltz , another “northern light”, is back in her team.
“Angie topped of my list of players I hoped would come to the 2024 Hamburg European Open. She’s simply Germany’s superstar in recent times and tennis fans love her for her incredible fighting spirit and her likeable nature. She’s a great role model for everyone,” emphasised Tournament Director Sandra Reichel.
In her career, Angelique Kerber has won Wimbledon (2018), the Australian Open (2016) and the US Open (2016). She was ranked the world No. 1 for a total of 34 weeks and has won 14 WTA titles. She claimed her last tournament win in Strasbourg in May 2022 and was named Germany’s “Sportswoman of the Year” in both 2016 and 2018.
Entrepreneur Alexander Otto is looking forward to 2024 Hamburg European Open
Alexander Otto, one of Hamburg’s most important sports sponsors and CEO of ECE, is delighted that Angelique Kerber has agreed to play and reaffirms his commitment to the tournament: “It’s thanks to Sandra Reichel that the women’s tournament will remain in Hamburg, and even become a warm-up for the Olympic Games. I’m looking forward to two premieres, top-class tennis in the Stadtpark and Angelique Kerber’s first appearance in northern Germany. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her comeback and am looking forward to the tournament, which ECE is also supporting next year.” ECE, which has been a premium partner at the Rothenbaum for the past five years, remains one of the most important sponsors of the Hamburg European Open.
In addition to Kerber, a quartet of local Hamburg heroes will also be looking to thrill tennis fans in the Hanseatic city: Tamara Korpatsch (28/ WTA rank 83), Eva Lys (21/ WTA 135), this year’s sensational runner-up Noma Noha Akugue (20/ WTA 177) and Ella Seidel (18/ WTA 179) are four Hamburg women in the Top 200 – making Hamburg a women’s tennis stronghold. During the tournament week, a centre court for about 2,000 spectators will be erected in the city park in the grounds shared by the THC Horn Hamm and SV St. Georg clubs. The world’s second-oldest WTA tournament – its history dates back to 1896 – will therefore offer a particularly exclusive flair next summer.
