A 45 minute drive north of Stuttgart into the sprawling German countryside will lead you to the TC Heilbronn am Trappensee, a tennis club founded in 1892. Over a century has passed but the 600-member club is heaped in tradition in the tranquil rural surroundings.

This week, the site hosts the €64,000 ATP Challenger Tour event called the Neckarcup, which in 2017 is celebrating a fourth edition. It is not only the scenery that makes the Neckarcup such a special event. The tournament is determined to keep evolving and boasts an indoor tennis centre as well as floodlit courts to enable the introduction of night matches.

Casper Ruud, into the quarter-finals so far this week, hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow #NextGenATP player Alexander Zverev, champion here in 2015, and he’s been highly impressed by the tournament’s complex. “The tournament is really nice, with a great organisation,” said Ruud. “It’s not the biggest city here (Helibronn), but that’s not a bad thing as the club is great and you can focus more on the tournament. I think German clubs are in general very good and they always have good courts and decent food at the site. The weather has been great here too, so not much to complain about.”

Tournament Director Metehan Cebeci is proud of what has been achieved thus far in four years, but he is hungry to see the Neckarcup evolve and grow. Here are Cebeci’s thoughts on the development of his tournament and the ATP Challenger Tour as a whole…

What has changed since the opening of the Neckarcup in 2014 and how has the tournament evolved?
I am very happy with the development of my tournament. Of course, it has been a lot of work, but the Neckarcup did not come about from a night of work. I have had time to plan the tournament. I have benefited from my experience in ITF youth tournaments. From the beginning, it was my ambition to give the professionals the greatest possible comfort. Secondly, I have looked at the interests of the ATP, the spectators in the stands, and finally, my requirements as Tournament Director. For example, new to this year, we will play night sessions for the first time thanks to a floodlight system.

How did you manage to organise a Challenger in Heilbronn?
As a former player and later a school tennis coach, it has always been my goal to create a tournament of this magnitude. It was important for me to find a suitable date for this. Since Germany is predominantly a clay place, I definitely wanted to organise an event on the dirt, ideally before the French Open. Fortunately, that worked.

What are your thoughts on the growth of Challenger events in Germany?
The attention has grown, but it could be even better. Of course, it is also down to the tournament organisers, as they promote their tournament. For the ATP, the importance of the Challenger Tour has increased. This means that the gap between the Challengers and the ATP World Tour is not as big as it was before. There are great players here who can compete with the best.

What are your goals for this event?
We want to continue to grow. I would like to expand the Challenger category and expand the Neckarcup to an €85,000 or €100,000 event. We need financial support in the long term. Until now I am doing everything I can and I really want this tournament to succeed, no matter how much effort and stress. The smile of the players and the joy I see at the end of the day compensates me for everything.

Are there other tournaments that you have learned from?
The tournament directors of the ATP Challenger Tour events in Germany have a strong exchange amongst ourselves. We visit our events and meet at least once a year. I also look at how others raise their tournaments.

Juan Martin del Potro had the marble statues surrounding Stadio Pietrangeli reverberating on Thursday evening as the former World No. 4 outclassed seventh seed Kei Nishikori 7-6(4), 6-3, on one of the most picturesque courts in world tennis, at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

It was the Argentinean’s first victory on clay courts over a Top 10 opponent in the Emirates ATP Rankings since 2012 Roland Garros, when he beat then-No. 7-ranked Tomas Berdych in the fourth round. He is now also 1-4 this year against the elite performers.

Del Potro had the support of the majority of the 3,500-strong crowd to stride into the quarter-finals for the first time in eight years, where he will meet World No. 2 Novak Djokovic for the third time this year. Although Djokovic won their two clashes in 2017 at the BNP Paribas Open and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, memories of their thrilling three-setter in Acapulco will mean Friday’s clash is a must-see.

Del Potro got off to the best possible start, but Nishikori fought back in a tense first-set, which was decided on a tie-break. He broke for a 3-1 lead in the second set, then narrowly failed to convert his first match point on Nishikori’s serve at 2-5, Ad-out, with a running forehand down the tramline. But del Potro closed out to love with an ace, in the next game, to complete the one-hour, 54-minute encounter.

Del Potro lost to Djokovic in the 2009 semi-finals, while Nishikori was forced to withdraw ahead of last week’s Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals, where he would have met Djokovic, due to right wrist pain.

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Alexander Zverev, the #NextGenATP German, booked a place in his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season (also Miami, Madrid) on Thursday with victory over Italian favourite Fabio Fognini at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The 20-year-old Zverev silenced supporters at the Foro Italico with a performance of great maturity and efficiency in a 6-3, 6-3 win over 78 minutes. He will next face a fellow big-server, fifth seed Milos Raonic or No. 12 seed Tomas Berdych.

Zverev, the No. 16 seed, controlled the pair’s first meeting – breaking once in the first set for a 3-1 lead, and later five straight games to 4-0 in the second set. Despite the best efforts of the Roman crowd, Fognini’s frustration was evident for all to see.

Zverev is now 24-9 on the season, which includes capturing two ATP World Tour titles at the Open Sud de France (d. Gasquet) and the BMW Open by FWU (l. to Pella). He leads the Emirates ATP Race To Milan for one of eight spots at the 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals from 7-11 November.

Fognini, who recorded the biggest win of his career over World No. 1 Andy Murray on Tuesday night, had been trying to become the first Italian to reach the Rome quarter-finals since Andreas Seppi in 2012. He will now return home to his wife, 2015 US Open champion Flavia Pennetta, who is due to give birth to their first child on Friday.

Raonic, the 2014 Rome semi-finalist, leads 2013 semi-finalist Berdych 4-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The duo plays later today.

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