Anniversary edition ABN Amro Open on its way: you need to know this about the tennis tournament in Ahoy | ATP Rotterdam

View the drawThe fiftieth edition of the largest tennis tournament in the Netherlands started on Monday. The winner will receive 500 ranking points after the final on 19 February. For this edition, tournament director Richard Krajicek (51) selected several international top players and the Dutch top players. There are also female wheelchair tennis players present for the first time. This is everything you need to know about the ABN Amro Open.

Field of participants

The tournament has 32 participants. Of these, 24 were directly admitted based on their ranking. Three players received a wild card. This year they are Tallon Grepes (26), Tim van Rijthoven (25) and Gijs Brouwer (26). The remaining four tennis players came from the qualifying tournament that took place this weekend.

The Dutch participants (left to right: Tim van Rijthoven, Tallon Grepes and Botic van de Zandschulp) © ANP

A large part of the world’s best is present in Rotterdam this year. No less than five players from the top 10 of the world rankings act of presence: the Greek Stefanos Tsitispas (24), the Russian Andrei Roeblev (25), the Canadian and defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime (22), the Dane Holger Rune (19) and the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (25). The participation of grand slam winners Daniil Medvedev (26) and Stan Wawrinka (37) is on top of that.

Draw

Van de Zandschulp meets Frnasman Quentin Halys in the first round. Van Rijthoven will face the American Maxime Cressy in the first round. Greek track won his first round match against the Swede Mikael Ymer. Brouwer, who took over the wild card from Gaël Monfils at the last minute, won his first round against the Swiss Marc-Andrea Hüsler.

Van de Zandschulp, who recently skipped the Davis Cup meeting with Slovakia due to an upper leg injury, will meet the Frenchman for the first time. Brand new tournament winner, the Greek track played against the Swede once before, then lost Greek in three sets. Van Rijthoven and Cressy have never played against each other, neither have Brouwer and Hüsler.

Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the second round after beating the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori. The Greek number 3 in the world recently lost the final of the Australian Open to Novak Djokovic. Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.

Check out the full draw below:


Name change

Until last year, the name of the ATP tournament in Rotterdam was ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament. In June Krajicek announced the name change to ABN Amro Open. The reason behind this is to draw more attention to the ‘open character’ of the tournament.

Edition 2022

The last time the tennis toppers settled in Rotterdam was during the corona pandemic, with an adapted decor and a limited number of spectators. Still, it was a great edition with Auger-Aliassime winning his first individual ATP title by winning the final against two-time grand slam finalist Tsitsipas (6-4, 6-2). Greek track and Van de Zandschulp did not get further than the second round.

See tournament winner Auger-Aliassime’s reaction below

Doubles

There are sixteen duos that compete for the title in Ahoy. Robin Haase (35) and Matwé Middelkoop (39) received a wildcard last year and seized this golden opportunity with both hands. They will defend their title this year. Wesley Koolhof (33), number one in the world, is the favorite for the overall victory with his British partner Neal Skupski (33). They will face competition from, among others,Greekspoor/Van de Zandschulp. They got a wild card. The other wildcard went to world top player Tsitsipas, who plays together with his brother Petros (22). Both wildcard duos are already eliminated.

Defending champions Robin Haase (l) and Matwé Middelkoop (r) in doubles.

Defending champions Robin Haase (l) and Matwé Middelkoop (r) in doubles. © Jan Kok | Boomerang Photography

Qualifying tournament

The qualifications traditionally take place the weekend before the main tournament. The most notable name on the list is Zizou Bergs (23). The Belgian is extremely popular on social media platform TikTok. Many of his videos are about tennis, the sport where he has never been in the top 100 of the world rankings. With an excellent week in Rotterdam, that immediately changes.

Three wildcards in the qualifying tournament were for the Dutchmen Sidané Pontjodikromo (22), Jesper de Jong (22) and Max Houkes (22), but none of them qualified for the second qualifying round. Pontjodikromo lost in two sets to Aslan Karatsev (4-6, 3-6), Houkes was no match for Nikoloz Basilashvili (4-6, 4-6) and De Jong was also unable to win a set against Gregoire Barrère.

Wheelchair tennis

Seven-time Paralympic champion Esther Vergeer (41) has been tournament director of the wheelchair tennis tournament in Maasstad since the first edition. New this year is the wheelchair tournament for women. The Netherlands is well represented in the world top. For example, Golden Slam holder (winning all grand slams and the Paralympic Games in one year) Diede de Groot is the ‘top seed’ and a towering favorite for the overall victory.

The winner of the Australian Open, the Briton Alfie Hewett (25), is the star of the men.


Spectators

After the corona years, many tennis fans are allowed in again. During the previous edition, only 1250 enthusiasts were allowed in per session. The edition before that was even behind closed doors. This year ticket sales are even better than usual due to the recent Dutch tennis success. Ahoy Rotterdam can accommodate 10,000 people each session. The final day is sold out.

Dream final

It is Krajicek’s greatest wish that his tournament has a Dutchman in the final. And preferably there is a world champion against it. A final like the last edition of the Libéma Open (Van Rijthoven defeated Medvedev) and the director is satisfied. Krajicek doesn’t think it’s impossible: ,,Last year I thought Botic could do this. But he lost early.”


Poll

Which Dutchman will get the furthest in Ahoy Rotterdam?

  • Botic of the Sand Scallop (19%)

  • Tallon Greek track (58%)

  • Tim van Rijthoven (19%)

  • Gijs Brewer (2%)

  • A tennis player from the qualifying tournament (2%)

564 votes

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