As the first MT700 level event in Europe of the 2023 season, MT700 Essen is a significant tournament on the ITF World Tennis Masters Tour calendar.

Held in Essen, Germany, on 27 January - 3 February 2023, the German Seniors Indoors event has built its reputation through excellent facilities, accommodation options, and strong entry numbers over recent years.

We caught up with Tournament Directors Sabine Schmitz and Bastian Grieger to gain an insight into the activity behind-the-scenes in the run up to the event.

How many years have you been running the Essen ITF Masters event?

It's the first time we will organise the German Masters Open Indoors by ourselves. The years before we had external professional tournament organisers who rented our indoor facilities. Last year we decided to run the tournament ourselves, everything was prepared but the pandemic unfortunately forced us to cancel the tournament because of too many Covid cases in our region.

What is a typical day like for you during the event?

At 8am, we arrive to open the venue for players to practice. At our reception players check in and sign in. Referee, TD and tournament staff meet for a short meeting to plan the day. Then scheduled matches start, players are called by loudspeaker, and the tournament's routine continues as usual.

What do you think about this year’s line-up?

This year we will profit from two very experienced ITF refs, Martin Zorn (who just earned his silver badge) and Thorsten Thiele (white badge). For the first time, the current CEO of the TVN Federation and Indoors Hall Tennis-Zentrum Essen, Bastian Grieger will be Tournament director for an ITF tournament together with the experienced tournament director of a lot of ITF tournaments, current President of the TVN Federation and frequent ITF Masters player Sabine Schmitz. The tournament staff will also include employees of the TVN sports department. We will also be supported by the ITF's Paul Midgley.

When do you start preparing for the tournament?

We started in October 2022.

What makes Essen a great place to come and play tennis?

The indoor venue is the biggest indoor facility in Germany with 16 courts, two padel courts, a nice Italian restaurant, and good possibilities for spectators to watch the matches close by. Every year the German Youth Nationals and the German Senior National take place here.

6. How did you become interested in tennis? Do you play yourself?

Bastian worked as the assistant of Dietlof von Arnim for the former World Team Cup in Düsseldorf, but loves to play padel now.

Sabine has been playing tennis from her youth and continues to play to a high level!