German Open (WTA)

The German Open^[1] (previously known as the Grass Court Championships Berlin, bett1open, and since 2024 the Berlin Ladies Open) is a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women played in West Berlin, West Germany (until 1990), then Berlin, Germany from 1991 to 2008 following reunification. Held since 1896, it was one of the oldest tournaments for women. Until 1978 the tournament was held in Hamburg together with the men's tournament. From 1988, it was classified on the WTA Tour as a Tier I tournament. Since 2021, it is a WTA 500 tournament.

German Open
Tournament information
Founded	1896–2008; 2021–present
Editions	93
Location	Hamburg (1894–1978) West Berlin (1979–1990) Berlin (1991–2008, 2021–)
Venue	Am Rothenbaum Rot-Weiss Tennis Club (1979–2008, 2021–)
Category	Tier I (1988–2008) WTA 500 (2021–)
Surface	Clay outdoor (until 2008) Grass outdoor (2021–)
Draw	32M 24Q 16D
Prize money	$780,637 (2023)
Website	https://www.berlinladiesopen.com
Current champions (2023)
Singles	Petra Kvitová
Doubles	Caroline Garcia Luisa Stefani

After an absence of more than a decade, the tournament was announced to return to the WTA calendar for the 2020 season. However, the event was cancelled in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it would be due to return in 2021. The new event is classified as a Premier-level tournament and serve as a warm-up event towards the Wimbledon Championships, having switched its surface from clay to grass.^[2][3]

History

 

The former logo, used between 2005 and 2008.

Past champions of the tournament include former world number ones Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Martina Hingis, Amélie Mauresmo, Justine Henin, Ana Ivanovic and Dinara Safina.

Past finals

Singles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
↓ Hamburg (Clay) ↓
1896	Maren Thomsen	E. Lantzius	6–3, 6–2, 7–5
1897	Blanche Hillyard	Charlotte Cooper	6–3, 6–2, 6–2
1898	Elsie Lane	Toupie Lowther	7–5, 7–5
1899	Charlotte Cooper	Clara von der Schulenburg	7–5, 6–4
1900	Blanche Hillyard (2)	Muriel Robb	2–6, 8–6, 7–5
1901	Toupie Lowther	Gladys Dudell	6–0, 6–0
1902	Mary Roß	Hilda Meyer	8–6, 6–0
1903	Violet Pinckney	Hilda Meyer	6–2, 6–1
1904	Elsie Lane (2)	L. Bergmann	6–3, 6–0
1905	Elsie Lane (3)	K. Krug	6–0, 6–1
1906	Luise Berton	Margaret Dewsbury	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
1907	Margit von Madarasz	Hedwig Neresheimer	7–5, 0–6, 6–2
1908	Margit von Madarasz (2)	Rosamund Salusbury	2–6, 6–4, 6–0
1909	Anita Heimann	Mieken Rieck	6–4, 0–6, 6–4
1910	Mieken Rieck	Dora Köring	6–1, 6–3
1911	Mieken Rieck (2)	Molla Bjurstedt	6–1, 4–6, 6–1
1912	Dora Köring	Anita Heimann	6–2 6–2
1913	Dora Köring (2)	Hedwig Neresheimer von Satzger	6–4, 6–4
1914- 1919	Not held
1920	Ilse Friedleben	Lilly Müller Vormann	6–0, 6–0
1921	Ilse Friedleben (2)	Daisy Uhl	9–7, 6–1
1922	Ilse Friedleben (3)	Nelly Neppach	6–2, 6–1
1923	Ilse Friedleben (4)	Nelly Neppach	2–6, 9–7, 7–5
1924	Ilse Friedleben (5)	Nelly Neppach	6–2, 1–6, 6–3
1925	Nelly Neppach	Ilse Friedleben	2–6, 6–4, 10–8
1926	Ilse Friedleben (6)	Nelly Neppach	5–7, 6–4, 6–2
1927	Cilly Aussem	Ilse Friedleben	6–3, 6–3
1928	Daphne Akhurst	Cilly Aussem	2–6, 6–0, 6–4
1929	Paula von Reznicek	Violet Chamberlain	6–2, 4–6, 6–0
1930	Cilly Aussem (2)	Hilde Krahwinkel	6–4, 6–4
1931	Cilly Aussem (3)	Irmgard Rost	6–1, 6–2
1932	Lolette Payot	Hilde Krahwinkel	6–2, 1–6, 6–4
1933	Hilde Krahwinkel	Sylvie Jung Henrotin	6–2, 6–1
1934	Hilde Sperling (2)	Cilly Aussem	6–2, 6–3
1935	Hilde Sperling (3)	Cilly Aussem	9–7, 6–0
1936	Not held (due to Berlin Olympic Games)
1937	Hilde Sperling (4)	Marie-Louise Horn	4–6, 6–2, 6–2
1938	Hilde Sperling (5)	Margot Lumb	6–1, 6–0
1939	Hilde Sperling (6)	Hella Kovac	6–0, 6–1
1940- 1947	Not held
1948	Ursula Rosenow	Inge Pohmann	6–2, 8–6
1949	Mary Terán de Weiss	Inge Pohmann	6–2, 6–8, 9–7
1950	Dorothy Head	Ursula Heidtmann	6–3, 6–0
1951	Nancye Bolton	Mary Terán de Weiss	6–3, 6–3
1952	Dorothy Head (2)	Erika Vollmer	6–1, 6–3
1953	Dorothy Knode	Joy Mottram	6–0, 4–6, 6–4
1954	Joy Mottram	Inge Pohmann	2–6, 7–5, 6–2
1955	Beryl Penrose	Erika Vollmer	6–4, 6–4
1956	Thelma Long	Silvana Lazzarino	7–5, 6–2
1957	Yola Ramírez	Rosie Reyes	7–5, 6–3
1958	Lorraine Coghlan	Shirley Bloomer	6–4, 7–5
1959	Edda Buding	Zsuzsa Körmöczy	walkover
1960	Sandra Reynolds	Maria Bueno	7–5, 8–6
1961	Sandra Reynolds (2)	Yola Ramírez	5–7, 7–5, 6–1
1962	Sandra Reynolds Price (3)	Ann Haydon	4–6, 6–3, 7–5
1963	Renée Schuurman	Lesley Turner	6–4, 1–6, 6–3
1964	Margaret Smith	Maria Bueno	6–1, 6–1
1965	Margaret Smith (2)	Edda Buding	6–3, 6–2
1966	Margaret Smith (3)	Maria Bueno	8–6, 6–3
1967	Françoise Dürr	Lesley Turner	6–4, 6–4
1968	Annette Van Zyl	Judy Tegart	6–1, 7–5
1969	Judy Tegart	Helga Niessen	6–3, 6–4
1970	Helga Schultze-Hösl	Helga Niessen	6–3, 6–3
1971	Billie Jean King	Helga Masthoff	6–3, 6–2
1972	Helga Masthoff	Linda Tuero	6–3, 3–6 8–6
1973	Helga Masthoff (2)	Pat Walkden Pretorius	6–4, 6–1
1974	Helga Masthoff (3)	Martina Navratilova	6–4, 5–7, 7–3
1975	Renáta Tomanová	Kazuko Sawamatsu	7–6, 5–7, 10–8
1976	Sue Barker	Renáta Tomanová	6–3, 6–1
1977	Laura duPont	Heidi Eisterlehner	6–1, 6–4
1978	Mima Jaušovec	Virginia Ruzici	6–2, 6–3
↓ West Berlin (Clay) ↓
1979	Caroline Stoll	Regina Maršíková	7–6^(7–4), 6–0
1981	Regina Maršíková	Ivanna Madruga-Osses	6–2, 6–1
1980	Not held to make room for Federation Cup which took place at same location.
1982	Bettina Bunge	Kathy Rinaldi	6–2, 6–2
1983	Chris Evert-Lloyd	Kathleen Horvath	6–4, 7–6^(7–1)
1984	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Kathleen Horvath	7–6^(10–8), 6–1
1985	Chris Evert-Lloyd (2)	Steffi Graf	6–4, 7–5
1986	Steffi Graf	Martina Navratilova	6–2, 6–3
1987	Steffi Graf (2)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6–2, 6–3
1988	Steffi Graf (3)	Helena Suková	6–3, 6–2
1989	Steffi Graf (4)	Gabriela Sabatini	6–3, 6–1
1990	Monica Seles	Steffi Graf	6–4, 6–3
↓ Berlin (Clay) ↓
1991	Steffi Graf (5)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 4–6, 7–6^(8–6)
1992	Steffi Graf (6)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 7–5, 6–2
1993	Steffi Graf (7)	Gabriela Sabatini	7–6^(7–3), 2–6, 6–4
1994	Steffi Graf (8)	Brenda Schultz	7–6^(8–6), 6–4
1995	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Magdalena Maleeva	6–4, 6–1
1996	Steffi Graf (9)	Karina Habšudová	4–6, 6–2, 7–5
1997	Mary Joe Fernández	Mary Pierce	6–4, 6–2
1998	Conchita Martínez	Amélie Mauresmo	6–4, 6–4
1999	Martina Hingis	Julie Halard-Decugis	6–0, 6–1
2000	Conchita Martínez (2)	Amanda Coetzer	6–1, 6–2
2001	Amélie Mauresmo	Jennifer Capriati	6–4, 2–6, 6–3
2002	Justine Henin	Serena Williams	6–2, 1–6, 7–6^(7–5)
2003	Justine Henin (2)	Kim Clijsters	6–4, 4–6, 7–5
2004	Amélie Mauresmo (2)	Venus Williams	walkover
2005	Justine Henin (3)	Nadia Petrova	6–3, 4–6, 6–3
2006	Nadia Petrova	Justine Henin	4–6, 6–4, 7–5
2007	Ana Ivanovic	Svetlana Kuznetsova	3–6, 6–4, 7–6^(7–4)
2008	Dinara Safina	Elena Dementieva	3–6, 6–2, 6–2
2009– 2019	Not held
↓ Berlin (Grass) ↓
2020	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021	Liudmila Samsonova	Belinda Bencic	1–6, 6–1, 6–3
2022	Ons Jabeur	Belinda Bencic	6–3, 2–1, ret.
2023	Petra Kvitová	Donna Vekić	6–2, 7–6^(8–6)

Doubles

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score
↓ Hamburg (Clay) ↓
1968	Annette Du Plooy   Pat Walkden	Winnie Shaw   Judy Tegart	6–3, 7–5
1969	Judy Tegart   Helga Niessen	Edda Buding   Helga Hösl Schultze	6–1, 6–4
1970	Karen Krantzcke   Kerry Melville	Winnie Shaw   Virginia Wade	6–0, 6–1
1971	Rosie Casals   Billie Jean King	Helga Masthoff   Heide Orth	6–2, 6–1
1972	Helga Masthoff   Heide Orth	Wendy Overton   Valerie Ziegenfuss	6–3, 2–6, 6–0
1973	Helga Masthoff (2)   Heide Orth (2)	Kristien Kemmer   Laura Rossouw	6–1, 6–2
1974	Helga Hösl   Raquel Giscafré	Martina Navratilova   Renáta Tomanová	6–3, 6–2
1975	Dianne Fromholtz   Renáta Tomanová	Paulina Peisachov   Kazuko Sawamatsu	6–3, 6–2
1976	Linky Boshoff   Ilana Kloss	Laura duPont   Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 7–5, 6–1
1977	Linky Boshoff (2)   Ilana Kloss (2)	Regina Maršíková   Renáta Tomanová	2–6, 6–4, 7–5
1978	Mima Jaušovec   Virginia Ruzici	Katja Ebbinghaus   Helga Masthoff	6–4, 5–7, 6–0
↓ West Berlin (Clay) ↓
1979	Rosie Casals (2)   Wendy Turnbull	Evonne Goolagong   Kerry Reid	6–2, 7–5
1981	Rosalyn Fairbank   Tanya Harford	Sue Barker   Renáta Tomanová	6–3, 6–4
1980	Not held to make room for Federation Cup which took place at same location.
1982	Liz Gordon   Beverly Mould	Bettina Bunge   Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6–3, 6–4
1983	Jo Durie   Anne Hobbs	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Eva Pfaff	6–4, 7–6^(7–2)
1984	Anne Hobbs (2)   Candy Reynolds	Kathleen Horvath   Virginia Ruzici	6–3, 4–6, 7–6
1985	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková	Steffi Graf   Catherine Tanvier	6–4, 6–1
1986	Steffi Graf   Helena Suková (2)	Martina Navratilova   Andrea Temesvári	7–5, 6–2
1987	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (2)   Helena Suková (3)	Catarina Lindqvist   Tine Scheuer-Larsen	6–1, 6–2
1988	Isabelle Demongeot   Nathalie Tauziat	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
1989	Elizabeth Smylie   Janine Tremelling	Lise Gregory   Gretchen Magers	5–7, 6–3, 6–2
1990	Nicole Provis   Elna Reinach	Hana Mandlíková   Jana Novotná	6–2, 6–1
↓ Berlin (Clay) ↓
1991	Larisa Neiland   Natasha Zvereva	Nicole Provis   Elna Reinach	6–3, 6–3
1992	Jana Novotná   Larisa Neiland (2)	Gigi Fernández   Natalia Zvereva	7–6^(7–5), 4–6, 7–5
1993	Gigi Fernández   Natasha Zvereva (2)	Debbie Graham   Brenda Schultz	6–1, 6–3
1994	Gigi Fernández (2)   Natasha Zvereva (3)	Jana Novotná   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 7–6^(7–2)
1995	Amanda Coetzer   Inés Gorrochategui	Larisa Savchenko   Gabriela Sabatini	4–6, 7–6, 6–2
1996	Meredith McGrath   Larisa Neiland (3)	Martina Hingis   Helena Suková	6–1, 5–7, 7–6^(7–4)
1997	Lindsay Davenport   Jana Novotná (2)	Gigi Fernández   Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 3–6, 6–2
1998	Lindsay Davenport (2)   Natasha Zvereva (4)	Alexandra Fusai   Nathalie Tauziat	6–3, 6–0
1999	Alexandra Fusai   Nathalie Tauziat (2)	Jana Novotná   Patricia Tarabini	6–3, 7–5
2000	Conchita Martínez   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Amanda Coetzer   Corina Morariu	3–6, 6–2, 7–6^(9–7)
2001	Els Callens   Meghann Shaughnessy	Cara Black   Elena Likhovtseva	6–4, 6–3
2002	Elena Dementieva   Janette Husárová	Daniela Hantuchová   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	0–6, 7–6^(7–3), 6–2
2003	Virginia Ruano Pascual   Paola Suárez	Kim Clijsters   Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
2004	Nadia Petrova   Meghann Shaughnessy (2)	Janette Husárová   Conchita Martínez	6–2, 2–6, 6–1
2005	Elena Likhovtseva   Vera Zvonareva	Cara Black   Liezel Huber	3–6, 6–3, 6–1
2006	Yan Zi   Zheng Jie	Elena Dementieva   Flavia Pennetta	6–2, 6–3
2007	Lisa Raymond   Samantha Stosur	Tathiana Garbin   Roberta Vinci	6–3, 6–4
2008	Cara Black   Liezel Huber	Nuria Llagostera Vives   María José Martínez Sánchez	6–2, 6–2
2009- 2019	Not held
↓ Berlin (Grass) ↓
2020	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021	Victoria Azarenka   Aryna Sabalenka	Nicole Melichar   Demi Schuurs	4–6, 7–5, [10–4]
2022	Storm Sanders   Kateřina Siniaková	Alizé Cornet   Jil Teichmann	6–4, 6–3
2023	Caroline Garcia   Luisa Stefani	Kateřina Siniaková   Markéta Vondroušová	4–6, 7–6^(10–8), [10–4]

Tournament names

• 1896–1927:German Championships
• 1928–1948:German International Championships
• 1949–1970:West German Championships
• 1971–1979: German Open
• 1980: No tournament
• 1981–1988: German Open
• 1989–1990: Lufthansa Cup
• 1991–1992: Lufthansa Cup German Open
• 1993–2000: German Open
• 2001–2002: Eurocard German Open
• 2003: MasterCard German Open
• 2004: Ladies German Open
• 2005: Qatar Total German Open
• 2006–2008: Qatar Telecom German Open
• 2021–2023: bett1open
• 2024–present: Berlin Ladies Open

See also

• German Open Tennis Championships
• WTA Hamburg

References

1. "Two-time champion Kvitova warms up for Wimbledon with German Open title". Reuters. homson Reuters Group Limited. 25 June 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
2. "Former Wimbledon champion to headline brand-new WTA Premier event in." 26 October 2019.
3. "Cancellation of bett1open 2020". Berlin Open. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.