The male tennis tournament Mercedes Cup Stuttgart belongs to the category ATP 250 and has been held in Germany since 1978. 60 professional sportsmen take part in the tournament: 28 – in singles and 32 (16 pairs) – in the doubles. Competitions are held on grass in the tennis club Weissenhof. The main prize that the winner of the tournament receives is a Mercedes-Benz cabriolet. This tournament is a great chance for you to make some big profits, with daily free tennis picks or you can try our dedicated section for paid betting tips.

Mercedes Cup History

The history of the tennis tournament in Stuttgart began back in 1916. At that time it was called the Stuttgart Open. In 1978, the tournament entered the men’s series Grand Prix and received its current name – the Mercedes Cup – one year later, in 1979. From 1990 to 1999, the Mercedes Cup was in the ATP Championship Series. After changing the name of the series to ATP International Series Gold (in 2000), the Stuttgart tournament entered it twice: in 2000-2001, and in 2003-2008. In 2002, the rank of the tournament was lowered to the ATP International Series, but the following year it regained its status. Since 2009, the tournament Mercedes Cup Stuttgart has been classified as ATP World Tour 250 series. Initially, since 1916, competitions were held on clay, and in 2015 the transition to grass courts was implemented. This change led to a shift in the date of the tournament: it was traditionally held in July, after the Wimbledon tournament, and in the last three years – in June, at the end of the French Open Tennis Championship. So, in 2018, the Mercedes Cup will run from 11 to 17 June.

Winners and records at Stuttgart Open

In the history of the Mercedes Cup, there were only a few cases where the same athletes won the tournament twice or thrice.

The record holder is the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal, who became the champion three times – in 2005, 2007 and 2015. The Czechoslovak tennis player Tomas Smid became the winner in doubles three times – in 1978, 1985 and 1989, and in 1979 became the champion in singles.

The Brazilian Gustavo Cuerten won the tournament in 1998 and 2001 in singles and again in 1997 in the doubles. Two years in a row, the Austrian Thomas Muster won the Mercedes Cup in 1995 and 1996. The Argentinian Martin Hayte won two times in Stuttgart – in 1986 and 1989. The hosts of the tournament in singles won in Stuttgart only once – in 1991 the final was won by Michael Stich. And in the tournament pairs, the German sportsmen won 4 times (Andreas Maurer in 1984, Rainer Shuttler in 2001, Christopher Kas and Philip Kolshrayber in 2008, Philippe Pecschner in 2011). In recent years, the representatives of Spain and Argentina have dominated the Mercedes Cup courts: since 2000 they have won a total of 11 times (singles) and 7 Argentine sportsmen have won in doubles. In addition, playing in pairs, the representatives of the Czech Republic won 10 times in the final. As for tennis players from the former USSR, they managed to get the title of the champion only twice: in 1992 the tournament was won by the Ukrainian Andrey Medvedev, and in 2002 – by the Russian Mikhail Yuzhny. In the doubles category, in 2006 the Belarusian tennis player Maxim Mirny was able to win. In 2017, Lucas Pouille became the owner of the Mercedes and the cash prize. In doubles, the victory went to Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.

Mercedes Cup 2018

The tournament Mercedes Cup 2018 starts in Stuttgart on June 11 (the final will be held on 17.06). Prior to that – on 9 and 10 June – qualifying rounds will take place, in which 16 tennis players will take part. The winner of last year’s tournament, Lucas Pouille, will participate in the competition. But we are looking forward to the return of the Swiss Robert Federer on the grass courts of Stuttgart. Also, Hyeon Chung (South Korea), Nick Kyrgios (Australia), David Ferrer (Spain), Mischa Zverev (Germany) will fight for the main prize.

Who will  win “The BIG Prize” ?

The prize fund in 2018 is € 729,340. In addition to the monetary reward, the champions will record in their asset 250 points of the ATP rating.

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