BIEL/STARNBERG, September 2, 2021

The ATP Challenger Tour will return to Switzerland for the second time this year with the inaugural Flowbank Challenger Biel/Bienne. The €44,820 indoor hard-court tournament will be held at the Nationales Leistungszentrum Swiss Tennis inside the Jan Group Arena in Biel from September 19 to 26.

The entry list is led by World No. 104 Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The 30-year-old Frenchman has captured four Challenger career singles titles. His last triumph took place on home soil in Orleans in September 2016. Herbert will play his first match on the Challenger Circuit this season.

The other potential seven seeded players are Dennis Novak from Austria, home favourites Henri Laaksonen and Marc-Andrea Huesler, Tomas Machac from the Czech Republic, Briton Liam Broady, Joao Sousa from Portugal as well as Mohamed Safwat of Egypt.

Swiss young gun Dominic Stricker will also be part of the line-up. The 19-year-old captured his maiden title on the ATP Challenger Tour at the Challenger Citta di Lugano in March. Stricker is based in Biel and currently ranked World No. 286.

“It is something special to be able to compete at this level in Switzerland. I’m really happy that several professional tournaments are now taking place at the Nationales Leistungszentrum and the arena. We know the courts, we are at home here. Of course I hope that I can benefit from the home advantage,” Stricker said.

“This year the FlowBank Challenger will take place in September, and from next year we are planning to hold it after the tournament in Lugano,” explains Alessandro Greco, Head of Competitive Sports at Swiss Tennis and Director of the new tournament. “This means we can offer our young professionals two ITF Pro Circuit tournaments and two Challenger events in spring, where they can collect important points for the world rankings. Such springboard tournaments are key for the development of a young professional.”

“Free entry”

Swiss Tennis is trying something new with regard to ticketing and has decided against a fixed entry price, offering a tips-based model.

“Everyone voluntarily gives what it is worth to them,” says Alessandro Greco, “We mainly organize the tournament for our youngsters, it should serve as a springboard for the current young professionals and act as a motivation for the next generation – and that’s why 100 per cent of the income goes to the youth development fund.”

Entry list Flowbank Challenger Biel:

Pierre-Hugues Herbert 104
Dennis Novak 125
Henri Laaksonen 130
Tomas Machac 143
Liam Broady 147
Joao Sousa 149
Marc-Andrea Huesler 169
Mohamed Safwat 176
Go Soeda 186
Cem Ilkel 188
Enzo Couacaud 189
Lukas Lacko 197
Ramkumar Ramanathan 204
Daniel Masur 209
Ruben Bemelmans 222
Sergiy Stakhovsky 227
Borna Gojo 233
Maxime Janvier 234
Dimitar Kuzmanov 235
Hugo Grenier 241
Mats Moraing 242
Lukas Klein 246
Tobias Kamke 252