The significant switch from clay to grasscourts of the MercedesCup had already begun with the completion and implementation of such change taking place in June of 2015. MercedesCup is an ATP World Tour 250 event.
Overseen by an official from the All England Club in Wimbledon, courts 12, 13 and 18 have been rebuilt and stands are currently built around Court 18.
“The soil structure and grass mixture we are using in Stuttgart is equal to Wimbledon”, said Christian Engelmann, CEO of Engelmann Golfplatzpflege GmbH. “We 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.”
“We are very pleased to see the first stage of the building process of the new grass court facilities completed. Our cooperation with the Organisers 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,” said All England Club Chief Executive Richard Lewis.
“It 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,” said ATP Europe CEO Laurent Delanney.
In July 7, 2014, former Wimbledon champions Michael Stich and John McEnroe will try out the newly created grasscourts via an exhibition in Court 18. The said area will have a 2,000-seating capacity. By 2015, the EnBWCourt and the Center Court will be changed to grasscourts in time for the official transition of the event as a Wimbledon warm-up event.
