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7/19/09 10:24 PM | Johan Lindahl
Former Wimbledon winner and current Hamburg tournament director Michael Stich will try to roll back the years as he teams in doubles at his own event next week.
The German will play alongside the younger, fitter legs of Davis Cup player Mischa Zverev, with the pair hoping to try their luck for a round or two.
Any excitement is welcome at the former Masters event now downgraded after an expensive court battle last summer to a 250 series on the orders of the ATP to conform with a massive calendar shake-up.
The event has already received a late financial blow when a court ruled that and online betting service will not be allowed to contribute a 250,000-euro sponsorship for the week. But that useful sum will be partly made up by 200,000 euros from the city of Hamburg.
"For about five years, I've trained in Hamburg, sometimes with Mischa", said Stich. "We've always had the idea, now it's time to see how it goes".
Zverev, a 21-year-old ranked 45th, said that as a youngster, he remembers Stich bringing tennis glory to Germany in the Boris Becker-Steffi Graf era. "As a child I admired Michael, and it was always a dream,to perhaps play doubles with him".
"I'm sure that we can go a few rounds this week in Hamburg".
Stich won Wimbledon over Becker in 1991 but his career was ended early by a shoulder injury. Stich was the last German to win Hamburg, in 1993.
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