STUTTGART, December 12, 2014
The Mercedes Cup will kick-off the new grass court season on the ATP World Tour, which has been extended to five weeks between the French Open and Wimbledon. With support from the Church Road in London, Stuttgart’s persons in charge want to create perfect conditions for the players. Six grass courts in “Wimbledon quality” is the outcome at the Tennis Club Weissenhof. “The courts here in Stuttgart are very similar to the conditions in Wimbledon,” Toni Nadal told in July when he attended the Mercedes Cup. The new centre court will have a capacity of 6.000 places and the first encounter will take place on 7th May 2015 with a show-match between two former Wimbledon champions.
By changing the surface from clay to grass the tournament set the stage for presenting top players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer in Stuttgart next year. “If we continued playing on clay, we would not have the chance to get players like them. With our new grass courts, however, this will be within the realms of possibility,” tournament director Edwin Weindorfer said. Another incentive for the players will be the increase in prize money from € 450.000 to € 620.000. In addition, a car from Mercedes-Benz will also be at stake for the finalists.
The tournament also closed a new TV-contract with Eurosport. Europe’s number one Tennis channel got the exclusive rights to broadcast more than twenty live match of the Mercedes Cup into 54 countries.
Report from the “Grass Court Premiere” in July 2014: href=”https://www.tennistourtalk.com/?p=518
