Let's get this party started! Celebrating 30 years of the Braunschweig Challenger

There is no party like the Braunschweig Challenger party.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this week, the ATP Challenger Tour 125 event goes far beyond tennis, featuring live music and entertainment each night of the Brawo Open. Even before the first ball, three days of concerts kickstart this annual highlight in the north-central region of Germany.

“I think the key for our success of the tournament is a mixture of world-class tennis during the day and world-class entertainment in the evening,” said tournament director Volker Jacke. “Our event is hosted for 10 days. Not only seven days of tennis, we are starting on the first day with three days of party, concerts with bands and artists.”

The tournament, or should we call it the music festival, has been providing a two-part thriller for fans the past three decades. What once started with a single guitarist concluding each day’s action in 1994, the Brawo Open rapidly grew larger, requiring multiple upgrades in its stage setup to accommodate more well-known acts. Performing artists this year include German singer-songwriters Michael Schulte and Max Giesinger as well as the band Culcha Candela.

Fans eagerly gather day after day and night after night, some hitting the exits just before sunrise.

“Now we are 10 days. Normally one artist every evening. Perhaps a dee-jay after the show,” Jacke said. “The big stage, we have to be quiet at 11 p.m., that’s the rule from the city of Braunschweig but we have an after-show party, where the people will celebrate more until the morning, four or five a.m.”

^{The festivities take place at the Braunschweiger Tennis- und Hockey-Club e. V. Credit: Brawo Open.}

The longest-running German Challenger has served as a springboard for some of the world’s best tennis players. Of the past 29 champions, nine players have ascended to the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings, including current World No. 4 Alexander Zverev, who won Braunschweig in 2014.

Zverev was just 17 years old when he lifted his maiden ATP Challenger Tour trophy in Braunschweig, capping a dream run as a wild card then-ranked No. 665. Other former champions include Gaston Gaudio (2000), current ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi (2001), Tomas Berdych (2004) and Florian Mayer (2013). Jan-Lennard Struff treated the home crowd to a double triumph in 2022, when he won the singles title and partnered Marcelo Demoliner to claim the doubles trophy.

^{Alexander Zverev celebrates winning the 2014 Braunschweig Challenger. Credit: Thomas Ammerpohl}

“I think it’s a stepping stone for a lot of players,” Jacke said of the ATP Challenger Tour. “This year we have some older players who were very, very high in the rankings, like [Roberto] Carballes Baena against [Cristian] Garin in the quarters. And we have a lot of young players who are starting their careers. They are coming here, wanting to play their best tennis and they are on the rising side of their career.

"The mixture of old players who were very highly-ranked and young players who are coming up, I think that’s the secret.”

Jacke, who succeeded Michael Stich as tournament director in 2016, has worn many hats at the Braunschweig Challenger, from spectator to working in the front office, and even line umpiring at the clay-court event in 1999.

The Brawo Open was named ‘Challenger Of The Year’ for four consecutive years (2014-2017) and again won the honour in 2019. It is the ninth longest-running ATP Challenger Tour tournament. For many people, it is a holiday in the region, reuniting fans from far and wide.

“People meet one day a year for Christmas, everybody is coming home. This is the same here,” Jacke said. “‘Oh, next year? Brawo Open? ATP Challenger Tour tournament? Okay! Next year! This is the time and the place.’ It’s incredible. And I don’t know why they are coming. It’s a secret.”

But that ‘secret’ is not so well hidden: seven days of world-class tennis and nonstop fun.

^{Tomas Berdych at the 2004 Braunschweig Challenger. Credit: Brawo Open}

Players celebrate the Braunschweig Challenger 30th anniversary
Alexander Zverev, 2014 champion: "I wish you all the best for your 30th birthday. One of the special moments in my young career was back in 2014, my first Challenger victory. It is one of the best Challenger tournaments I have ever played and hopefully you will have another 30 years."

Jan-Lennard Struff, 2022 champion: "I wish you all the best for the 30th anniversary of the tournament. Incredible respect for the amazing tennis event you organise year after year, even in the evenings away from tennis. It is really unique. I always really enjoyed coming to Braunschweig. Of course I look back fondly on 2022, a very, very difficult week for me. To be able to win the tournament in singles and doubles was very special. I wish you all the best for this year."

ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi, 2001 champion: "On behalf of the ATP, I would like to give my congratulations for 30 years of the Brawo Open, an incredible Challenger. I have incredible memories from my win in 2001 there. It was an incredible field with great hospitality, great memories. Congratulations to all the team and thank you very much for all your efforts."