The Hamburg Open is an outdoor clay competition held in Hamburg, Germany. It is currently a combined ATP and WTA event. However, the men’s competition is an ATP 500 event, while the women’s is a WTA 250 competition.
Generally, the tournament takes place in late July each season at the Rothenbaum Tennis Center. The men’s event at the Hamburg Open has taken place since 1892. However, the women’s edition is a more modern competition, which started in 2021.
Originally, different versions of the WTA Hamburg Open appeared on the schedule before the competition ended in 2002. But, in 2021, the WTA event returned as a WTA 250 competition, which takes place alongside the men’s finals. Moreover, the men’s draw was promoted to the ATP Masters 1000 level in 1990, and the competition maintained this level for 30 years.
In 2009, the competition was classed as an ATP 500 event - a status it has kept ever since. The Hamburg Open also had another major change in 2009. Previously, the tournament was held in May, and players used it as a warm-up event for the French Open in late May.
However, the tournament moved to July in 2009. When the Hamburg Open was an ATP 1000 event, some of the greatest men’s players of all time won the competition. Roger Federer won the tournament a record four times between 2002 and 2007. Rafael Nadal has also won two titles in Hamburg - once at an ATP 1000 competition and another under the ATP 500 category.
In the women’s singles, former German player Steffi Graf dominated the Hamburg Open in the 1980s and 90s. Graf won a record six consecutive titles between 1987 and 1992. When the competition returned in 2021, Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse was the first player to lift the Hamburg Open title.
