HAMBURG, March 8, 2024
The Challenger Hamburg is ready to kick off on Sunday and the already high-caliber player field has gained even more attractiveness through the allocation of wild cards. The German Tennis Federation (DTB) has selected Marko Topo (Gräfelfing/ATP 384), Max Hans Rehberg (Munich/ATP 470), and Nicola Kuhn (Ludwigshafen/ATP 589) for the main draw.
Twenty-year-old Topo is considered one of the biggest young hopes in German men’s tennis and has already demonstrated his quality on the Pro Circuit with two triumphs on the ITF World Tennis Tour in Serbia last year. The Bavarian with Serbian roots will compete in the Challenger Hamburg for the second time. Last season, Topo lost a hard-fought opening match to eventual finalist Dennis Novak from Austria.
Rehberg, also 20, achieved success on the Pro Circuit in 2022 when he won a tournament on carpet in Forbach, France. On the same surface, he reached his first final on the ATP Challenger Tour at his home event in Ismaning, where he was defeated by Frenchman Quentin Halys. Rehberg advanced to the quarterfinals at this year’s Koblenz Open and will aim for further success in his third participation in Hamburg.
Completing the trio is Nicola Kuhn, who, despite being only 23, is already considered a relatively experienced player. The native of Innsbruck, who spent most of his youth and later tennis career in Spain but has been representing Germany again since 2021, made his breakthrough by winning the Challenger tournament in Braunschweig in 2017. Two years later, he claimed his second title at this level in Segovia, Spain, which propelled him to 174th place in the world rankings. Kuhn has had to deal with injury setbacks in the following years but regained confidence, especially in the past season. He won two tournaments on the ITF World Tennis Tour on home soil in Metzingen and Allershausen and aims to continue his upward trajectory on the Challenger Circuit in Hamburg.
The official poster of the Challenger Hamburg 🇩🇪
📅: March 10 to 17, 2024
🚩: Hamburger Tennis-Verband#ATPChallenger #Hamburg ⚓️ pic.twitter.com/juhshHVmyb— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) March 1, 2024
Wildcard quartet starts in qualifying
For the qualifying, the DTB is sending Liam Gavrielides (Ludwigsburg/ATP 731) and David Fix (Pforzheim/ATP 1120) into the fray. The Hamburg Tennis Association has nominated Michael Agwi (Berlin/ATP 758) as well as wildcard tournament winner Max Wiskandt (Bad Wildungen/ATP 784).
The Challenger Hamburg will take place from March 10th to 17th at the venue of the Hamburg Tennis Association. Entry is free throughout the tournament week. The Challenger Hamburg is supported in particular by the City of Hamburg (Active City), the Tennis Association of Schleswig-Holstein, the Regional League North-East, the men’s professional tennis organization ATP, and the German Tennis Federation (DTB).
