The 2016 edition of the German Open, the ATP 500 tour stop in Hamburg, is the centerpiece event of the brief two-week addendum of the European clay season after the one-month grass season. While tennis is still played in Europe before the move to North America in August, clay events make a brief return following Wimbledon. Hamburg is the most important clay event, surrounded by some ATP 250 events in the second half of July. This used to be a Masters 1000 event but was downgraded when Madrid became a clay Masters event and Shanghai was created as a new fall hardcourt event (which Madrid formerly was).
The competition in the 48-player main draw began on Monday, July 18.
Event Details
Event: German Open
Category: ATP World Tour – 500 Series
Date: July 18 – 24, 2016
Location: Tennisstadion Am Rothenbaum – Hamburg, Germany
With a prize money allotment of just over 1.5 million Euros, the 500-point tournament falls short of other ATP 500 events in terms of its total purse. This is a function of being a 32-player event, whereas the following week’s ATP 500 tour stop in Washington, D.C., is a 48-player event. Why would this be a 32-player event while Washington is 48? Simple: After the grass season, the most important tournaments for the remainder of the season are on hardcourts. It is in the best interests of most players to shift to hardcourts after grass. Hamburg, though, is a clay tournament. It offers one last chance for clay-court specialists to grab points before the rest of the season moves solely to hardcourts. This is part of the two-week mid-July period after Wimbledon. It is a brief re-emergence of the clay season, and simultaneously one final swing for European tennis before the Olympics (this year) and (in every year) North America.
The points structure under the ATP system is that the championship means 500 points. A runner-up finish is worth 300. A semifinal result is 180 points, and a quarterfinal appearance offers 90 points. A round-of-16 results provides 45 points.
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2015 – Kei Nishikori def. Fabio Fognini – 7-5, 7-5
2014 – Leonardo Mayer def. David Ferrer – 6-7, 6-1, 7-6
2013 – Fabio Fognini def. Federico Delbonis – 4-6, 7-6, 6-2
2012 – Juan Monaco def. Tommy Haas – 7-5, 6-4
2011 – Gilles Simon def. Nicolas Almagro – 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Player Info:
No players in the ATP top 20 will contest this tournament. That means this is a good tournament to get some value from a tennis betting perspective. We’re going to see a lot of players that are about even and there will opportunity for someone to step up. This season has been dominated mostly by Novak Djokovic, so if he’s around, he’s a big favorite. That’s not the case here.
Philipp Kohlschreiber, at No. 22, will be the top seed. However, he’s not fantastic on the hard court surface. He’s just 4-4 on the hard court surfaces this year and was 6-6 last year. Benoit Paire is the second seed. He’s just 4-5 on the hard surface this year and was 12-8 last year.
Pablo Cuevas will be third. Alexander Zverev will be fourth. Jeremy Chardy, at No. 34, will be the No. 5 seed. Nicolas Almagro, ranked 47th, is the sixth seed. Martin Klizan is the seventh seed. Guillermo Garcia Lopez is just 58th in the world, but he is the eighth seed.
From this group, someone like Zverev could be an interesting bet depending on his form heading into it. He’s a young player with a lot of potential, but he hasn’t been able to breakthrough just yet. He pushed Rafael Nadal in a matchup earlier this year when he gained some attention.
Tennisstadion Am Rothenbaum
The Tennisstadion Am Rothenbaum, originally built in 1892 to host the long-running Hamburg event, was renovated in the late 1990s. It holds 13,200 seats, which is connected to the event’s history as a prestigious event once part of the Masters 1000 series.
Remember that this is an event being played on the hard surface, which means that you’ll want to eye players who are big hitters. The players that rely on powerful groundstrokes and big serves are the ones who thrive well here. Players who rely on speed and defense are ones that you’ll want to avoid here.
