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An executive summary of what fans should know about the coming week in Hamburg
The ATP Tour heads to Germany this week for the Hamburg European Open, an ATP 500 event.

Three former singles champions are in the draw, which includes nine of the Top 20 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings. ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch at the clay-court tournament.

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1) Medvedev’s Momentum: Daniil Medvedev will begin his clay-court swing in Hamburg fresh off his run to the US Open semi-finals. The Russian competed at this ATP 500 in 2016 as a 20-year-old, when he qualified and advanced to the second round of the main draw. Medvedev was No. 215 in the FedEx ATP Rankings at the time. Now he is World No. 5. He will open against Frenchman Ugo Humbert.

2) Will Stefanos Shine? Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas is making his tournament debut in Hamburg. The Greek will try to replicate his previous clay-court success. Tsitsipas triumphed in Estoril last year and reached the final of the Mutua Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event. The second seed begins his run in Hamburg against Daniel Evans.

3) Gael Goes For Glory: Gael Monfils owns a 4-4 record in Hamburg. But the 2011 quarter-finalist will try to make a splash at this edition as the third seed. The Frenchman, who lifted the 2005 Sopot trophy on clay, will play Kitzbuhel finalist Yannick Hanfmann in the first round.

4) Former Champ Fabio: Fabio Fognini won his second ATP Tour title in Hamburg seven years ago. The Italian also made the final in 2015, falling short against Rafael Nadal. But he will chase a third title in Germany (also 2013 Stuttgart) starting with his opening match against wild card Philipp Kohlschreiber.

<a href='/en/players/fabio-fognini/f510/overview'>Fabio Fognini</a>
Photo Credit: Hamburg European Open/Witters
5) The Start Of Rublev’s Ascent: Andrey Rublev has been one of the most in-form players on the ATP Tour this season, tallying a 20-6 record. The Russian credits some of his momentum to his run to last year’s Hamburg final.

“I won playing not good tennis, but just because I was fighting and I was a little bit lucky,” Rublev said. “I still won [matches]. And this sometimes is even better, because this also gives you confidence that even playing your worst tennis, you know how to win.”

6) Diego Back For More: Diego Schwartzman, who surprised nine-time champion Rafael Nadal in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals, is the seventh seed in Hamburg. The Argentine has reached the quarter-finals in his past two appearances in Hamburg (2017, 2018) and he will play Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round.

7) Basilashvili Goes For Three: Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili is the two-time defending champion in Hamburg. The World No. 32 has won two of this three tour-level titles at this event, and all three of his trophies have come at an ATP 500. He will face a tough test in the first round against fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

Felix’s Debut: Canadian #NextGenATP star Felix Auger-Aliassime will compete in Hamburg for the first time. The 20-year-old will open against Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

<a href='/en/players/felix-auger-aliassime/ag37/overview'>Felix Auger-Aliassime</a>
Photo Credit: Hamburg European Open/Witters
9) Wild Cards: The three main draw wild cards are eighth seed Karen Khachanov, German Philipp Kohlschreiber and Hanfmann, another home favourite. Dominik Koepfer originally received a wild card, but got into the main draw as a special exempt because he reached the quarter-finals in Rome.

10) Stacked Doubles Field: There are so many top doubles teams in Hamburg that 2019 Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are unseeded. The four seeded duos are top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah, reigning Australian Open champions Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury, third seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo and Rome titlists Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos.

Doubles star Lisa Raymond joins ATP players on ballot

Four former ATP Tour stars will be on the ballot for the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021. Former singles World No. 1s Lleyton Hewitt and Juan Carlos Ferrero are joined by former doubles World No. 1 Jonas Bjorkman and two-time Roland Garros champion Sergi Bruguera.

The youngest player to ever claim the No. 1 spot in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Australia’s Hewitt did so at just 20 years of age in 2001. Hewitt won his second major title in 2002, when he was victorious at Wimbledon. The 5’10” right-hander was also a finalist at the Australian Open in 2005.

Hewitt maintained a Top 10 position for more than five years and won 30 tour-level singles titles. The Aussie claimed two Davis Cup trophies for Australia in 1999 and 2003.

“I’m incredibly honoured and grateful to receive this nomination,” said Hewitt. “I had so many great Australians to look up to while I was coming up in the sport. To know that my career is up for consideration to be recognised alongside the likes of Hall of Famer’s Tony Roche, John Newcombe, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall and so many other greats who I admired is just an amazing honour.”

Ferrero reached his first major final at Roland Garros in 2002, upsetting then-World No. 4 Andre Agassi and No. 2 Marat Safin en route to the championship match. The Spaniard fell in the final to compatriot Albert Costa. Ferrero returned to the championship match one year later, defeating Martin Verkerk to lift the 2003 Roland Garros title.

Later that year, Ferrero also reached the US Open final (l. to Roddick). His success in 2003 propelled him to the No. 1 position in the FedEx ATP Rankings and he spent 139 weeks inside the Top 5. In 2000, Ferrero became a hero of the first Spanish Davis Cup championship-winning team when he won the final point in Barcelona against fellow nominee Hewitt.

Former World No. 1 doubles player Bjorkman won nine major titles and completed the doubles career Grand Slam. The Swede was twice a champion at the Nitto ATP Finals and he captured 54 doubles titles in all. In singles, Bjorkman reached a career-high No. 4 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and was a semi-finalist at both Wimbledon and the US Open. A dedicated team player, Bjorkman played a major role in three Swedish Davis Cup championship squads.

Spanish clay-court great Sergi Bruguera won back-to-back titles at Roland Garros in 1993 and 1994. The Spaniard’s first title in Paris came with a five-set victory against two-time defending champion Jim Courier. Bruguera reached a career-high No. 3 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and won 14 tour-level titles in all. The Barcelona native earned a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games.

Also on the ballot is Lisa Raymond, winner of 11 Grand Slam titles in doubles and mixed doubles. In the contributor category, Dennis Van der Meer, the founder of Professional Tennis Registry (PTR), is nominated posthumously.

Fan Voting And The Induction Process
Now that the ballot has been set for the Class of 2021, voting will take place to determine who is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. There is no minimum or maximum number of ballot nominees that can be inducted.

The ballot will go before the Official Voting Group, comprised of tennis journalists, historians, and Hall of Famer’s this fall. Additionally, the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Fan Vote presented by BNP Paribas will run from 1-25 October, for the Player Category nominees only.

Fan Voting offers tennis fans around the globe the opportunity to voice their opinions about who is deserving of Hall of Fame induction and to have an impact on the election outcome by casting a vote online. The three most popular players in the Fan Vote will receive bonus percentage points on their Official Voting Group result.

The candidate with the highest result in the Fan Vote will receive three additional percentage points, while second and third place will receive two and one additional percentage points, respectively.

To be elected into the Hall of Fame, a candidate must receive an affirmative vote in 75 per cent or higher of ballots submitted from the Official Voting Group or a combined total of 75 per cent or higher from their Voting Group result and any bonus percentage points earned in the Fan Vote.

The results of the ITHF Fan Vote will be announced at the conclusion of the voting period. The Class of 2021 Inductees will be announced in early 2021 with the Induction Ceremony slated to take place July 17, 2021.

Since its inception in 1955, the honour of Hall of Fame Induction has been granted to 259 great champions and contributors to the sport from 27 different nations.