THE SPIELBANK BAD HOMBURG CENTRE COURT WITH A NEW APPEARANCE

The countdown for the third edition of the Bad Homburg Open presented by Engel & Völkers (June 24 to July 1, 2023) is in full swing – and now the Spielbank Bad Homburg Centre Court has also been given its new face. On Saturday (May 20), in sunshine, the lines were drawn on the three match courts at TC Bad Homburg. The marking of the three training courts at the Homburger TG will follow soon.

“Everything is going very well, the weather is suitable. Fingers crossed that it stays warm over the next few weeks,” said supervisor Oliver Stuhldreier and English greenkeeper Stuart Burridge in unison. And what would the ” lawn whisperers” like to see for the climate during the tournament week? “Ideal would be 20 to 25 degrees Celsius – and no rain.” Directly after the matches, the courts are still watered every evening, not just in the morning. “So that there is more time to dry,” explains Oliver Stuhldreier.

Top stars such as Swiatek and Andreescu will be in the spa park

Five weeks before the start of the tournament, the courts will be resplendent in lush green and the anticipation of the tournament with Wimbledon flair in the Kurpark, for which, among others, the world number one and three-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek, last year’s Bad Homburg Open finalist and US Open winner Bianca Andreescu and the German number one Tatjana Maria, Wimbledon semifinalist in 2022, have already confirmed their participation. The complete field of female participants will then be officially announced on May 29.

Currently, the lawn of the courts is mowed every two days with a so-called double cut, i.e. once there and once back. Soon the workload will be increased to once a day. At present, the cut length is still 10 millimeters, but during the Bad Homburg Open, the lawn will be the exact length of Wimbledon: The famous 8 millimeters.

In addition, the baseline – as is also customary at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) – will be widened from the current 5 to 7.5 centimeters. The chalk-based paint used specifically for this line comes from England and is extra robust.

Did you know that…

…about 1.5 liters of a chalk mixture are needed for the one-time line marking of a lawn tennis court?

…the chalk mixture is also used for marking the playing fields in Bundesliga soccer stadiums?

…after every second or third mowing of the tennis lawn the lines are traced?

…the measuring of the 23.77 meter long and 10.97 meter wide tennis court before the initial marking is done with 3 people, 3 red ropes, 36 pins and conventional measuring tapes and takes about an hour?

…the actual marking with a handcart takes approximately 45 minutes?