The BMW Open is the ATP Tour’s Munich stop. This German clay-court event is a 250-point tournament, good for some practice in the week ahead of the Madrid Masters. Players who want to either sharpen up for Madrid or perhaps increase their chances of qualifying for the Rome Masters the following week will participate in this tournament and try to make a gain in the rankings chase. Remember that the players are on clay at this event, which means you’ll want to bet on the guys that rely on defense and speed to get the job done. Players who rely on power will see their strengths minimized.
The competition in the 28-player main draw began on Monday, April 25.
Event Details
Event: BMW Open
Category: ATP 250 Series
Date: April 25 – 30, 2016
Location: MTTC Iphitos – Munich, Germany
The 2016 BMW Open is a 250-point tournament. What limits the entry list for this tournament is that it comes right before the Madrid-Rome fortnight. You simply won’t see big names here unless injured players need to get some work in. Something like that has to happen to attract a star player. That said, there are some pretty good names in this field, even though the top 12 on the ATP Tour aren’t included.
With a prize money allotment of 463,520 Euros, the purse is standard for an event of this size and relative importance. The payoff for the players who do well here is a rankings boost which can mean the difference between direct entry into a Masters tournament or having to go through the qualifying rounds, or – at a different level of severity and urgency – between having to go through the qualifying rounds and not even having a chance to go through qualifying at all. The top seeds are players who are generally in the direct-entry category. The players just below the top seeds are near the cut line between direct entry and qualifying for Masters tournaments. The players at the bottom of the list in terms of the rankings of the 28 singles competitors are the ones who have to scramble just to get into the quallies for the Masters tournaments.
The points structure in a 250-point tournament offers 250 points towards the winner’s ranking. A runner-up finish is worth 150 points. A semifinal result is 90 points, and a quarterfinal appearance offers 45 points.
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2015 – Andy Murray def. Philipp Kohlschreiber – 7-6, 5-7, 7-6
2014 – Martin Klizan def. Fabio Fognini – 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
2013 – Tommy Haas def. Philipp Kohlschreiber – 6-3, 7-6
2012 – Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Marin Cilic – 7-6, 6-3
2011 – Nikolay Davydenko def. Florian Mayer – 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Player Info:
David Goffin, ranked at 13 right now (it could be different on Monday), is the top seed. Gael Monfils, Dominic Thiem, and Roberto Bautista-Agut get byes as the top four seeds. Goffin has had a pretty good season so far, reaching back-to-back semifinals in ATP Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells, where he fell to Milos Raonic, and Miami, where he lost to Novak Djokovoc. One of his signature wins on the Tour this year was his upset of No. 4 Stan Wawrinka at Indian Wells. His current ranking of No. 13 is as high as he’s ever been. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Fabio Fognini, Jeremy Chardy, and Thomaz Bellucci round out the top eight seeds. Goffin should be a significant favorite to win the event, although it’s not going to be a complete walk in the park.
Dustin Brown of Germany and Argentine star Juan Martin del Potro have been granted wild card berths to this event.
MTTC Iphitos
The MTTC stands for the Munich Tennis and Turnier Club. It was founded in 1892 as the first tennis club in Munich and is one of the most prominent tennis clubs in Germany. It has seen some of tennis’ biggest names come to town, including the Niki Pilic, John McEnroe, Jimmy Conors, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Michael Stich, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Marin Cilic. The city hosted a different tournament, on grass, as early as 1900. The main stadium court at MTTC Iphitos holds 5,600 people.
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