How professional tennis arrived in Val Gardena
[Translate to en:] From 1999 to 2015, Wolfgang Wanker held the position of tournament director and organizer of the largest tennis tournament in South Tyrol. In a detailed interview, he talks about the origins of the tournament and how it has developed over time. The event started 24 years ago as a small 10,000 tournament and has since established itself as one of the most important ITF tournaments for women. In 2009, the tournament was successfully converted into a Challenger tournament for men and after a 6-year break, in 2015 a small ITF tournament for women (prize money of $10,000) was also organized alongside the Challenger. This year marks the 8th edition, with a prize money of $25,000.
The foundation for the first professional tournament in Gröden was laid 25 years ago. Initially, it was a so-called B tournament, until Klaus Schraffl from Brixen suggested organizing an international tournament in Gröden, which would only cost slightly more than a B tournament. In a committee meeting, a vote was held and it ended in a tie. However, the missing board member Raimund Rifesser was convinced and the first ITF tournament started in 1999. In the same year, a final B tournament was also held. The organizers received many positive feedbacks from Rome. Gloria Pizzichini won the first tournament, after successfully qualifying and saving a match point in the first round. She won the final easily in only 40 minutes with 6:2, 6:0.
The tournament was a great success and more and more ITF tournaments with higher prize money followed. In 2000 and 2001, $25,000 tournaments were already held and after that, a $50,000 tournament followed. A special memory for Wolfgang Wanker was the year 2007 when 16-year-old Caroline Wozniacki, who was still ranked 228 in the world, won the tournament. Later, she even became world number 1.
Financing the tournaments was a major challenge because not only the prize money had to be increased, but also the accommodation of the players had to be paid for. Nevertheless, the organizers kept going and were keen to ensure that the tournaments paid for themselves. Any surplus was put into the club's account.
Over the years, many well-known players have been welcomed to Gröden, including top 100 players. However, the favorites usually had a hard time, while players from the qualifications repeatedly advanced deep into the tournament. Barbora Strycova from the Czech Republic was the first top 100 player to win the tournament. At the last women's tournament in 2009, which had a prize money of $100,000, she achieved this success.
Wolfgang Wanker is proud of the list of tournament winners. Flavia Pennetta won with us in 2002 and later ended her career with a victory at the US Open. Caroline Wozniacki, who came to Gröden in 2007 as Wimbledon Junior Champion, also won the tournament. Her father Piotr predicted at the time that she would be in the top ten in a year. In fact, Wozniacki even became world number one. Michaella Krajicek was considered a great talent, but couldn't make the breakthrough. She won the tournament in Gröden in 2005, but was disadvantaged due to her susceptibility to injury.
The ITF women's tournament had a well-known name in the tennis world. The organizing team was even offered to host a WTA tournament, but they declined the offer. Instead, they decided in 2009 to organize a men's Challenger tournament. In that year, Mara Santangelo won the tournament for the second time, which prompted the organizers to think about hosting a men's tournament. In 2010, the first Challenger tournament finally took place. The participation of Andreas Seppi in 2012 also helped to increase the number of spectators and the audience was thrilled. Seppi even won the tournament twice and the name of Jannik Sinner can also be found on the tournament's honor roll.
