Munich’s BMW Open to Upgrade with New Center Court for ATP Tour 500 Tournament

An ATP Tour 250 tournament has been held in Munich since 1990. From next year this will be upgraded – which is why a new center court is needed.

Andy Murray (Great Britain), Dominic Thiem (Austria), Holger Rune (Denmark) and of course Alexander Zverev – this year again a number of top international players will be playing at the BMW Open in Munich. From April 15th to April 21st, they will all fight for the title at the tennis clay court tournament on the grounds of the MTTC Iphitos in front of up to 4,300 spectators in the stands of the center court.

And in the future there could be, no, there must be even more fans. Last fall, the professional association ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) upgraded the tournament in the Bavarian capital. From 2025, the winner will not receive “only” 250, as before, but 500 world ranking points. There are only more at the nine Masters tournaments (1,000) and the four Grand Slam tournaments (2,000) in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York. In addition, the prize money will quadruple from the previous 600,000 euros to two and a half million.

Architect presents initial plans for Center Court

All incentives for even more top ten players to compete on clay in Munich in the future. This year, six of the nine tournament days are already sold out a good three and a half weeks before the start. But that’s not the only reason why the organizers have to be able to guarantee at least 6,000 places for the matches on the Center Court next year. This was also a condition of the ATP so that the tournament could be upgraded to the 500 level.

On Tuesday evening, architect Matthias Schöner from Albert Speer und Partner, together with the board of the MTTC Iphitos Schwabing-Freimanns, presented the plans for a new building to local politicians. According to a report in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ), a permanent stadium with 19 rows of seats is planned. This should be able to be supplemented by seven additional rows through temporary system grandstands during the BMW Open. This would accommodate 7,200 spectators.

Realistic completion by 2028

The new arena was also designed with a hydraulically height-adjustable roof. A roof over the planned center court is not a must, as MTTC board member Fabian Tross told the “SZ”. However, having one is a great wish of the ATP. Another advantage is that when the roof is lowered, it can also be used purely for clubs, like an air dome.

The stadium is expected to be built in the south of the club grounds, directly adjacent to the student town in Freimann. According to the “SZ”, this location turned out to be the most sensible in a feasibility study. The MTTC Iphitos now has two years to build – actually. According to Tross, completion by 2028 is more realistic. The ATP is apparently satisfied with that.

2024-03-21 14:40:26
#plans #tennis #arena #presented