What started on a normal Monday morning, in Stuttgart on August 12, 2013, is of historic impact, not only for the Tennis Club Weissenhof but also more importantly for the MercedesCup.
About three months ago, the conversion from clay to grass courts started. Meanwhile, the first stage of the building process has been completed with the first grass stalks growing on three courts (courts No. 12, 13 and 18).
When the MercedesCup will celebrate its inaugural grass court tournament in 2015, the Centre Court and the EnBW Court will also shine in green splendor. The crew from Engelmann Golfplatzpflege GmbH together with assistance from the All England Lawn Tennis Club, has done a formidable job over the past couple of months starting the transition process.
³The soil structure and grass mixture we are using in Stuttgart is equal to Wimbledon², said Christian Engelmann, CEO of Engelmann Golfplatzpflege GmbH, the company in charge for the retrofitting. ³We would like to thank the All England Lawn Tennis Club for their excellent support. If everything progresses well and stays on schedule, the first three grass courts in Stuttgart will be ready for play end of May 2014.²
Richard Lewis, Chief Executive of the All England Club added: ³We are very pleased to see the first stage of the building process of the new grass court facilities completed. Our cooperation with the Organizers of the MercedesCup, Emotion and Tennisclub Weissenhof has been excellent so far and we are glad that we have been able to contribute some of our know-how and experience in the building of the new grass courts in Stuttgart.²
Laurent Delanney, CEO ATP Europe said: ³It is pleasing that the initial stages of the transition from clay to grass are going well. The MercedesCup was awarded an ATP grass court event after presenting a thorough application and we have great confidence that the organizers will deliver a high-level ATP grass court event in the lead up to Wimbledon.²
Former Wimbledon champions John McEnroe and Michael Stich have confirmed their participation a high-caliber inauguration match on July 7, 2014.