MUNICH, April 29, 2018

Alexander Zverev announced on Sunday that he will not play at his home tournament in Hamburg this year. Germany’s top-ranked tennis player, however, will not rule out a participation at the German Open in the future if the ATP 500-event will switch its surface from clay- to hard-courts.

The tournament in Hamburg takes place in July during the US-American hard court swing, where most of the top stars are getting ready for the final Grand Slam of the season.

Three days ahaed of his first match at the BMW Open by FWU, Zverev told that he had already been in talks about this topic with Michael Reichel, who will be the new tournament organizer at the Rothenbaum as successor of Michael Stich in 2019.

“We will try that Hamburg will become a hard court tournament,” Zverev said in Munich. Should this happen, he will sign a long-term contract with the tournament. “I still want the best for the city and the tournament. I will do anything that I can play there,” the World No. 3 stated.

Zverev, who was born in Hamburg in 1997, played his first main draw match on the ATP World Tour here in 2013. One year later he enjoyed a great run into the semi-finals eventually falling to David Ferrer. His last appearance in Hamburg took place two years ago.