This year, the Hamburg European Open will be held as a combined event. Men and women will be competing simultaneously in the city of Hamburg from July 16 to 24, 2022. The last time this happened at the clay-court classic was in 1978!

This now puts the Hamburg European Open among illustrious company in the tournament landscape! There are only five other combined events in Europe: Wimbledon, the French Open, the two Masters tournaments in Rome and Madrid, and Eastbourne (England).

In 2021, Sandra Reichel and organizer Peter-Michael Reichel, her father, successfully acquired a 250 WTA tournament license, bringing women’s professional tennis back to Rothenbaum after a 19-year absence. The 2021 edition of the women’s event was won by Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the final against tournament ambassador Andrea Petkovic. The competition was held in July, back-to-back with the ATP 500 level tournament in the preceding week. In that event, the Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta triumphed. Now comes the next upgrade to the Hamburg European Open with parallel tournaments.

When men and women last competed at the same time at Rothenbaum in 1978, Argentina’s Guillermo Vilas and Mima Jausovic of the former Yugoslavia lifted the trophies.

Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins from the United States has already confirmed for the 2022 Hamburg European Open. Known for her fighting spirit both on and off the court, the 28-year-old had a tough year in 2021. It was therefore all the more thrilling when she made her sensational run at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year in Melbourne. She finally bowed out in the final to the recently retired Australian world number one Ashleigh Barty, 3:6, 6:7 (2:7). Thanks to her biggest career triumph to date, she broke into the top ten for the first time at the end of January.