Challenger Awards Presented At Inaugural Global Workshop

The ATP Challenger Tour turned its attention to Braunschweig, Germany, this week as the ATP welcomed representatives from tournaments and national federations throughout the world for the inaugural Global Challenger Workshop.

With the goal of making the burgeoning circuit even stronger, the forum fostered an open dialogue between tournaments and ATP staff. The two days of collaboration and integration of ideas also included the awards presentation for 2016 ATP Challenger Tournaments of the Year. The Sparkassen Open in Braunschweig and Pekao Szczecin Open in Szczecin, Poland, were acknowledged for their passion and commitment to growing the game at the Challenger level.

“This was the the first time we hosted an international ATP Challenger workshop,” said Alison Lee, co-Chair Challenger Committee and Executive Vice President ATP International. “We had an incredible turnout of people from every corner of the world representing more than 50 tournaments. It was a great opportunity for us to meet face to face and exchange information especially as there have been so many changes on the Challenger circuit as we push to make improvements.”

The €127,000 events in Braunschweig and Szczecin had been given the top honour on the ATP Challenger Tour for the 2016 season, along with the event in Mons, Belgium, which will sadly not be scheduled this year. Braunschweig was presented with the Tournament of the Year trophy for the third straight season, while Szczecin earned their first piece of silverware.

“It’s a big honour for us and my team to host the first Global Challenger Workshop here in Braunschweig. We welcome the tennis world to Braunschweig,” said tournament director Volker Jaecke. “We are very happy to win this year for the third time in a row. I think the key of success is the teamwork from everyone.”

“I am really happy that this award is in my hands, but this is an award for the whole team,” said Leopold Korytowski, tournament director in Szczecin. “This is going to be the 25th year of the tournament and we’re looking forward to what’s to come.”

The Sparkassen Open in Braunschweig is celebrating its 24th edition this week. Notable past champions include Gaston Gaudio (2000), Tomas Berdych (2004) and #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev (2014). The Pekao Szczecin Open will welcome players and fans in September. Notable winners include Nikolay Davydenko (2002), Nicolas Lapentti (2006), Pablo Cuevas (2010) and Dustin Brown (2014).