BMW Open Ready To Kick-Off

The organizers of the BMW Open are ready for the tournament’s start

MUNICH, April 22, 2016

Friday afternoon in the capital of Bavaria. Blue sky, a lot of sunshine and pleasant 23 degrees Celsius receive the media representatives at the venue of the MTTC Iphitos 24 hours ahead of the start of the BMW Open by FWU AG.

“We do not want to talk about the weather forecast,” says Peter Bosch, chairman of Munich’s prestigious tennis club, located in the northern part of the famous English Garden, as right with the tournament’s kick-off on Saturday, rain and cold air is expected to return to Germany.

Blue sky over Munich on Friday afternoon

Blue sky over Munich on Friday afternoon

“We are in a good mood and really look forward to the coming week. Last preparations are going on. 10 tonnes of crushed brick have been used, even finer than usual. The venue opened its gates on Good Friday for the members. Philipp Kohlschreiber has already practiced here this year as well,” explains Bosch. The club is one of the founding members of the ATP.

“Two players from the club will receive a wild card for the qualifying. One of them will be Alexander Erler, who captured the title of the Rudi Berger Cup last year.”

Tournament director Patrik Kühnen added: “All of the players, who have already arrived are in best mood. And again we are able to present a great field to our spectators. Compared to the other two ATP events this week in Istanbul and Estoril, we will have the most attractive line-up. Thanks to the altitude of 450m to 500m, players will find perfect conditions in order to prepare for the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid the following week.”

One of the tournament’s main attractions is expected to arrive soon. 2009 US-Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro was awarded a wild card into the main draw.

First practice sessions for the players in Munich (here: Mikhail Youzhny and Denis Istomin)

First practice sessions for the players in Munich (here: Mikhail Youzhny and Denis Istomin)

“He is expected to arrive today and he will have his first practice session at 4 p.m. this afternoon. With Monfils, Goffin, Thiem and Bautista-Agut, there are also four players currently ranked inside the top 10 in the ATP Race coming to Munich,” Kühnen said and is proud to announce a great line-up for the qualifying weekend as well.

“Due to changes in the ATP regulations concerning the qualification, we will have a cut-off at No. 171, which means the best ever in the tournament’s history. The qualifying at all ATP 250 events is now taking place with 16 players. The sign-in deadline is three weeks ahead of the tournament, which means the same period of time as for ATP Challenger events. This ensures planning security for the tournaments as well as for the players.”

Organizers of the BMW Open: Peter Bosch, Gunther Gamst (Daikin), Stefan Kunowski, Patrik Kühnen (from left)

Organizers of the BMW Open: Peter Bosch, Gunther Gamst (Daikin), Stefan Kunowski, Patrik Kühnen (from left)

Presenting sponsor FWU AG announced one of the highlights for the side events taking place during the week. “James Morrison will be live on stage at the FWU Night on the Saturday evening, following the semi-finals. All of the spectators coming to the venue will have the chance to win tickets and then being part of only 200 people to attend this exclusive concert,” told Stefan Kunowksi, board member of the FWU AG.

Qualifying matches will kick-off on Saturday and the main draw ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. at the venue of the MTTC Iphitos. So as everything seems to be set, we can only hope that the weather is playing along the activities. But we are not going to say anything about that.