With only one top 10 player remaining in Alexander Zverev, high-flyer Jakub Mensik slips into the main draw. The Center Court is sold out.
The ATP tournament in Munich has to cope with another prominent absence. In addition to world number one Jannik Sinner, who cannot compete due to his doping suspension, world number four Taylor Fritz from the USA is now also missing. The top seed at the BMW Open (April 14-20), which is worth 2.5 million euros and is a 500-category tournament for the first time this year, is Alexander Zverev.
In addition to Zverev, who has been training in Munich since Thursday after his early exit from the Masters in Monte Carlo, two other top 20 players are competing in Ben Shelton from the USA (14th in the world rankings) and the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (19th). In addition, the Czech Jakub Mensik has made it into the main draw. The 19-year-old high-flyer, who beat Novak Djokovic in the final of the Miami Masters, is one of the favorites according to tournament director Patrik Kühnen: “He has the potential to reach the top 10, he can win the tournament here.”
Fritz, who lost to Jan-Lennard Struff in the final last year, has been struggling with minor injuries in recent weeks and has now decided to take a break, as Kühnen confirmed on Friday. He also received a cancellation from Poland’s Hubert Kurkacz (26th in the world rankings). “Nevertheless, we have a strong field,” Kühnen emphasized. None of the players who are already qualified for the main draw of 32 players is ranked lower than 56th in the current world rankings.
In any case, the prominent withdrawals have not affected the public’s interest in the upgraded tournament at the remodeled MTTC Iphitos facility: the new Center Court, which was initially built as a temporary structure with 6,500 seats and is a “monumental” main court according to Kühnen, has already been sold out from Monday to Sunday. A permanent stadium with a roof is to be built on the edge of the site by 2027. The contract between ATP and MTTC Iphitos for the organization of a 500 tournament runs for 20 years.
