NUSSLOCH, January 25, 2016

With the 13th edition of the MLP-Cup, held at the Racket Center in Nussloch, the ITF Pro Circuit continues its indoor carpet swing in Germany. The tournament takes place from 24 to 31 January and is also the first $25,000 event played on European soil this season.

Main draw starts on Tuesday with world number 211 Nils Langer as the tournament’s top seed. The 26-year-old German lost in the first round of the qualifying of the Australian Open to Egor Gerasimov in three sets and received a wild card to play his third event of the season. Langer won in Nussloch in 2012 and captured six more ITF Future titles in his career, his last came in Austria in 2014. To open his Nussloch title bid, Langer will face Constant Lestienne from France in the first round. It will be the pair’s first tour meeting.

Jan Mertl

Second seed is Jan Mertl. The Czech veteran, who has already claimed 22 ITF Futures titles in his career, will take on Mats Moraing in the opening round. The 23-year-old German just made the cut into the main draw but will arrive with a lot of confidence in Nussloch, as he lifted his third ITF trophy in Kaarst last Sunday.

The tournamen’t number three Uladzimir Ignatik fell in the opening round of the qualifying at the Australian Open to Thomas Fabbiano, but is always a force on fast indoor surfaces. The world number 228 from Belarus will play Frenchman Sebastien Boltz in his first round encounter.

Fourth seed is German youngster Maximilian Marterer. The 20-year-old from Nuremberg finished last year’s tournament as runner-up, losing to Ruben Bemelmans in an exciting final. Marterer also arrives from Melbourne, where he lost his qualifying match to Go Soeda in three sets and will face Adrian Sikora at the Racket Center. The two played three times before with the Slovakian leading 2-1 in head to head records.

The MLP-Cup also supports a good cause raising money for Tariku & Desta Kids’ Education, a non-profit organization located in Ethiopia’s capital city Addis Ababa. The project uses tennis as an instrument for showing children education and new perspectives for their lives.

Further information can be found under: http://www.tdket.org/