HAMBURG/STARNBERG, December 19, 2025
The German Tennis Federation (DTB) has crowned the first-ever winners of the new DTB Champions Race presented by Wilson, which this year replaced the German National Championships.
Brockmann and Engel top the inaugural rankings
In the women’s standings, Tessa Brockmann finished at the top of the overall ranking. The 20-year-old collected 225 points across twelve eligible tournaments, earning a prize of €7,000 along with a wildcard for an ITF W100 tournament or higher. She was followed by Eva Bennemann (105 points), Mariella Thamm (100 points) and Anna-Lena Friedsam (88 points).
In the U19 women’s category, Eva Bennemann claimed first place. As this ranking came with a higher prize and status than her second place in the overall standings, she was classified as the U19 winner. She was followed by Mariella Thamm, Josy Daems and Julia Stusek.
Top 3 Women – Overall
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Tessa Brockmann (€7,000 + wildcard for ITF W100 or higher)
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Mariella Thamm (€5,000 – also U19 runner-up, but awarded the higher prize)
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Anna-Lena Friedsam (€2,500)
Top 3 Women – U19
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Eva Bennemann (€5,500 + wildcard for ITF W50 or higher – also overall runner-up)
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Josy Daems (€3,000)
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Julia Stusek (€2,000)
In the men’s competition, Justin Engel dominated the DTB Champions Race. The 18-year-old finished first in both the overall standings and the U21 category. For his achievements, Engel received €7,000 in prize money and a wildcard for an ATP Challenger 125 event or higher. He earned 139 points from seven tournaments, finishing 36 points ahead of runner-up Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, with Tom Gentzsch taking third place on 86 points.
As Engel received the higher-ranked prize, Jamie Mackenzie was awarded first place in the U21 standings. The 17-year-old accumulated 60 points from seven tournaments, ahead of Diego Dedura-Palomero (54 points) and Max Schönhaus (49 points).
Top 3 Men – Overall
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Justin Engel (€7,000 + wildcard for ATP Challenger 125 or higher; also U21 winner)
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Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (€5,000)
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Tom Gentzsch (€2,500)
Top 3 Men – U21
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Jamie Mackenzie (€5,500 + wildcard for ATP Challenger)
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Diego Dedura-Palomero (€3,000)
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Max Schönhaus (€2,000)
DTB Board Member Veronika Rücker highlighted the purpose of the new format: “With the DTB Champions Race, which we introduced this year as a replacement for the German Championships, our goal is not only to honor the best players of the season, but also to strengthen the German tournament landscape. It is very important to us that our players have a wide range of tournament opportunities in Germany and make use of them. We are pleased that the Race was well received by the players in its first year and that we can appropriately recognize the outstanding performances of the respective top three.”
Introduced in 2025, the DTB Champions Race brings together the DTB Internationals and the DTB Premium Tour into a single points-based ranking system. Results from around 100 tournaments per year are taken into account, with a maximum of twelve results counting toward the ranking. At least three eligible tournament results are required to be listed, with the highest points available at ATP Challenger 125 and WTA 125 events.
At the end of December, the top players of the 2025 season were determined for the first time, with the top three in each category receiving prize money and, depending on their ranking, wildcards for German tournaments.
