Tennis Europe has announced details of the ‘21 & Under Invitational’, an exciting new competition due to take place in Hamburg, Germany, from July 25-28.
Earlier this year the European Federation launched its first ever cooperation with a top-level professional tournament, the ATP 500 Hamburg European Open, where the ‘Hamburg European Open Champion’ will be crowned. The organisers, in cooperation with the German Tennis Federation, will host a unique side event for the 21 & Under age group alongside the main competition, aimed at giving the most promising young men and women experience of big matches, star treatment, and the chance to win financial grants to help with their career development and travel expenses.
A total pool of €50,000 is available for the sixteen players – eight men and eight women – that will take part in the round robin competition. The Best of Five set matches will feature a shorter format; sets will be played as First to Four games with a tie-break at 3-All. There will be ‘No-Ad’ scoring (receiver decides), the ‘No Let’ rule applies, and players will be able to communicate with their coaches during the match.
Players aged from 19-21 are selected based on performances at junior Grand Slams and their ITF World Tennis Tour ranking. One wild card invitation for each event is reserved for the organisers. Invitations are currently being sent to Tennis Europe member nations, with player announcements expected in the coming days.