STUTTGART, May 18, 2015
Preparations for the 37th edition of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart are entering the final stage. Tommy Haas wants to return to action at the ATP 250 event at the TC Weissenhof taking place from June 6 to June 14. The 37-year-old has been sidelined from the courts for one year due to shoulder injury. Haas will still have a couple of days of practice in Los Angeles before he will come to Germany on Whitsun weekend.
“Tommy has made good progress and he will focus on the grass court season. After the tournament in Stuttgart, he will also play the Gerry Weber Open in Halle and Wimbledon,” said Edwin Weindorfer, tournament director of the Mercedes Cup and Haas’ manager. Haas will start his practice sessions on Stuttgart’s grass the first weekend in June.
Germany’s promising tennis hope Alexander Zverev captured his second ATP Challenger title in Heilbronn last Sunday. Consequently, the 18-year-old has reached a new career high in the ATP rankings on 85th position. “We would like to congratulate Alexander Zverev on this great success winning the Neckarcup and we want to ‘reward’ his achievement with a main draw wild card for the Mercedes Cup,” Weindorfer said. Zverev has become Germany’s number three behind Philipp Kohlschreiber (ATP No. 23) and Benjamin Becker (ATP No. 45).
The teenager will join Rafael Nadal, who aims to claim his third title in Stuttgart following the victories in 2005 and 2007 as well as Marin Cilic, Feliciano López, Gael Monfils and a couple of young guns like Dominic Thiem, Borna Coric, Bernard Tomic and Jiri Vesely. The winner will not only receive prize money of € 104,600, but also a new Mercedes-AMG GT S.