Federer, Nadal lead historic list of Hamburg champions

There are not many ATP Tour events with a list of former champions to rival the Bitpanda Hamburg Open.

Since it was first held in 1968, seven members of the ATP No. 1 Club have lifted the trophy at the German clay-court event, among them Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

So exactly what sort of legacy do Alexander Zverev and co. have to live up to at the ATP 500, to be held from 18-24 May at the Rothenbaum Tennis Centre? ATPTour.com takes a look back at the Hamburg exploits of Federer, Nadal and more.

Record At Am Rothenbaum
Federer is the record title holder in Hamburg, where he reeled off four titles in the space of six years between 2002 and 2007. After lifting his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy at the event by defeating Marat Safin in 2002, the Swiss earned back-to-back crowns in 2004 (d Guillermo Coria in the final) and 2005 (d Richard Gasquet).

Federer won his fourth and final Hamburg trophy in 2007, a triumph which doubled up as a landmark moment in ‘Fedal’ history. In the championship match, Federer notched his first win against Nadal on clay, a 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, triumph which simultaneously snapped the Spaniard’s remarkable 81-match overall winning streak on the surface. Federer only overcame Nadal once more across their 16 Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings on clay, in the 2009 Madrid final.

Federer won three of his Hamburg trophies (2004-05, 2007) when he was World No. 1. Only Ivan Lendl (1987, 1989) has also triumphed there while holding top spot in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Nadal Doubles Up
By the time of the 2008 Bitpanda Hamburg Open, Nadal was already well on his way to becoming the ‘King of Clay’. He had lifted 20 tour-level titles, including three Roland Garros crowns, on the surface. The Hamburg trophy was notably missing from his clay-court resume, but the Spaniard set that record straight by beating all three of what would later become his ‘Big Four’ rivals en route to the title in northern Germany.

Nadal powered past Andy Murray in the third round and then, after defeating former World No. 1 Carlos Moya in the quarter-finals, he overcame Novak Djokovic and Federer in consecutive three-setters to clinch the trophy.

When he returned for his next Hamburg appearance in 2015, Nadal suffered an early setback as he dropped the opening set of his first-round clash with Fernando Verdasco. His response was emphatic: Nadal won 10 straight sets to march to the title, capping his run with victory against Fabio Fognini.

_{^{Rafael Nadal during his 2008 Hamburg semi-final win against Novak Djokovic. Krafft Angerer/Bongarts/Getty Images}}

2025: The Contenders
As well as Federer and Nadal, the other former No. 1s in the PIF ATP Rankings to have triumphed in Hamburg are John Newcombe (1968), Lendl (1987, 1989), Stefan Edberg (1992), Marcelo Rios (1999) and Gustavo Kuerten (2000).

Hometown hero Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Jakub Mensik, Gael Monfils, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Frances Tiafoe will headline the draw in 2025. Those fans familiar with the event, which this year presents Bitpanda as a new title sponsor, may also notice some off-court improvements in the form of a larger fan zone and a top-notch hospitality area.