Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov are the latest additions to the impressive line-up of the 26th edition of the Gerry Weber Open ATP 500 in Halle, which already features Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Kei Nishikori. The Halle tournament will be held from 16th to 24th June 2018.
Last year the Swiss 19-time Grand Slam legend beat Karen Khachanov in the semifinal and Alexander Zverev in the final. Federer, who signed a life contract to play in Halle until the rest of his career, went on to win his eighth Wimbledon crown last July completing his Halle-Wimbledon double win on grass.
Thiem and Zverev have signed a contract with Halle until 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Zverev will be looking to reach his third consecutive final in Halle after losing to Florian Mayer in 2016 and Roger Federer in 2017.
“The atmosphere in Halle is fantastic. It would be nice to win this tournament in front of my home fans”, said Zverev.
Thiem will make his fourth appearance in Halle. The Austrian player reached his best result in 2016 when he advanced to the semifinal.
“I hope to fight for the title and raise my level”, said Thiem.
Nishikori will play in the German tournament for the sixth consecutive year. The Japanese player reached the semifinals twice in a row in 2014 and 2015.
The Halle tournament Director Gerry Weber has already announced most of the field seven months ahead of the start of the event. Roger Federer was awarded a wild-card in 2000 when he was 18 years old and won his “home” tournament nine times. He is aiming a winning a tournament ten times in his career, like Rafael Nadal, who won Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros ten times.
Last June Khachanov edged Rublev 7-6 (10-8) 4-6 6-3 in an all-Russian quarter final between two Next Gen stars. Both players qualified for the inauguaral edition of the ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan, where Rublev finished runner-up to Hyeon Chung in the final.
“We have been looking at the best young talented players for a long time, like it happened with Roger Federer. Fans can expect some exceptional tennis days. I am looking forward to an intense battle for the title. The ticket sales are going well at the moment and we invite our fans to buy tickets as soon as they can ”, said Tournament Director Gerry Weber.
German fans will have plenty to cheer about the local favourites Phillp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer, who won the Halle tournament respectively in 2011 and 2016, Misha Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff, Peter Goyowczyk and Cedrk-Marcel Stebe.
“German players have made our fans excited with strong performances. It will definitely happen in 2018”, said Gerry Weber.
