grass Archives - World Tennis Magazine

The ATP announced that the 2020 grass-court swing in the lead-up to The Championships at Wimbledon, will feature a new ATP 250 tournament in Mallorca, replacing the event previously held in Antalya, Turkey, from 2017-2019.

The Mallorca Championships, offering €900,000 in prize money, will be held at Santa Ponca from 20-27 June 2020, in partnership between the AELTC and e|motion sports.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said: “Spain remains a key market for the ATP Tour and we are delighted to see the return of an ATP 250 tournament to Mallorca. The Spanish island has contributed so highly to the history of tennis, notably producing two ATP World No. 1 players, Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal.

“Bringing a grass court tournament to Spain is an exciting development in the ATP Tour calendar, and we’d like to thank the AELTC [All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club] for their continued investment in the grass court season. The ATP has a longstanding relationship with e|motion, as ATP event owners in Vienna and event Promoters in Stuttgart, and we are pleased to expand our association with them and the AELTC through this new venture in Mallorca. We have no doubt the event will be a success from the outset.”

Event organisers, elmotion sports, also run the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, which switched surfaces from clay to grass courts in 2015, the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, and a WTA event in Berlin.

Edwin Weindorfer, CEO e|motion sports, said: “By organising three tournaments in as many weeks we are facing a big challenge, which we gladly accept. We will continually develop the tournament in Mallorca in the coming years and Santa Ponca is the perfect setting for that. I want to thank Wimbledon for their great support of our tennis commitment in Mallorca and also thank Toni Nadal, who has done great work as tournament director for the women’s tournament. A position he will also assume for the men’s tournament.”

It will be the first time that an ATP Tour tournament has been contested in Mallorca since 2002. Spain currently hosts two clay-court events, the Mutua Madrid Open (ATP Masters 1000) in May and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (ATP 500) in April.

Toni Nadal, Tournament Director of the Mallorca Championships, said, “I am very proud, that there will be an ATP tournament in Mallorca after so many years again. We expect to offer the fans a strong line-up in the final week before Wimbledon. After four successful women’s tournaments we are now starting a new, exciting tennis era in Mallorca with this men’s event.”

Philip Brook CBE, All England Lawn Tennis Club Chairman, commented: “The AELTC is pleased to continue the work it began several years ago with e|motion sports in Mallorca as they take on the new ATP 250-level tournament sanction. A strong and successful grass court season is absolutely critical to the future of grass court tennis and thus the future success of The Championships. Having worked to expand the grass court season to create a meaningful gap between Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, we are pleased to be making significant further investments into ensuring that quality grass court tournaments can be provided at all levels of the game with the best interests of the players and the broader tennis family in mind.”

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Barely 24 hours since lifting his fifth Roland Garros crown at the French Open on Sunday, the new World No.1 Rafael Nadal arrived in London for the AEGON Championships on Monday, and promptly started practicing on grass, in the pouring rain.

The Spaniard was mobbed by hundreds of adoring fans when his car pulled up at The Queen’s Club. In the locker-room he was greeted with handshakes, pats on the back and even a small round of applause by the other players. Then he got ready to practice.

Moments later the weather, which had remained dry throughout the day, turned. Rain started falling, play on the Centre Court was suspended and a practice-session seemed impossible. Even the tennis nets were taken down.

Nadal wasn’t worried. He just picked up his bag and made for the practice courts. Head Groundsman, Graham Kimpton, who has worked at The Queen’s Club for more than 20 years and gets on famously with the players, was there. “You don’t want to play, do you?” Kimpton asked, bemused. Nadal smiled, and nodded.

Kimpton laughed, and immediately ordered his team to put the net back up. The rain continued, but Nadal found his rhythm within seconds, swiping violent forehands and backhands at his hitting partner.

With the light fading and the rain unrelenting, Nadal called it a day after 20 minutes, satisfied that he was ready for the doubles match he will play with partner Marc Lopez on Tuesday, and his first singles match on Wednesday.

“I am very happy to come back to this very nice club and to be back on grass, which is one of my favourite surfaces,” said Nadal afterwards. “The conditions were not easy to practice in today, and I want to thank the Tournament organisers very much for letting me – I know that it’s not the best for the court, but for me it was very important to make contact with the new surface (grass). This is always a very important tournament for me, I won it in 2008, I love to be back at this club, and I am going to try my best.”

Nadal and Lopez will face Rainer Schuettler and Janko Tipsarevic in doubles on Tuesday, and then the Spaniard will take on Marcos Daniel in singles on Tuesday.

On Monday at the AEGON Championships, Dennis Istomin, Robby Ginepri and Richard Gasquet were all winners.

On Tuesday, Alex Bogdanovic and Grigor Dimitrov will conclude a match that stands at one set all, before Gael Monfils meets Rainer Schuettler, defending champion Andy Murray takes on Ivan Navarro, and then four-time winner Andy Roddick faces Igor Kunitsyn. After that Nadal and Lopez will take to the court.

For full draws and schedule of play, and for more information about the AEGON Championships, please click here: http://www.aegonchampionships.com