Halle Open

Germany's biggest grass-court tournament and the ATP's main Wimbledon warm-up on the continent. Roger Federer won it ten times. Centre Court has a retractable roof, so rain never costs you a session — and your ticket doubles as a free regional transport pass.

The Halle Open, played as the Terra Wortmann Open, has been running since 1993 and is the ATP 500 grass event that fills the fortnight between Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. It draws over 110,000 visitors a year across the week.

The venue is the OWL Arena, capacity 11,500, and it has something almost no other grass tournament offers: a retractable roof over Centre Court. At every other grass event on the calendar, rain means waiting. Here it means the roof closes and play continues.

The history is unusually concentrated. Roger Federer holds the record with ten titles, the last of them in 2019 at age 37, making him the oldest champion in tournament history. Jannik Sinner won it as world number one in 2024.

The draw is 32 in singles and 16 in doubles, played over seven days with two qualifying days before it.

Halle is a small town in North Rhine-Westphalia, not the larger Halle in Saxony-Anhalt. Do not book flights to the wrong one — they are 300 km apart and it is an easy mistake.

The nearest airport is Paderborn-Lippstadt, about 50 km away, but it has very few international routes. Most visitors fly into Düsseldorf or Hannover and take the train, which is a comfortable one to two hours. Frankfurt works too if the fare is better.

Bielefeld, 15 km away, is the practical base. It is a proper city with hotels, restaurants and direct rail to the venue, whereas Halle itself is small and accommodation is limited during tournament week.

Getting to the grounds is genuinely easy: the OWL-Arena station is a 600-metre walk from the entrance, and Halle (Westfalen) station is about 1.6 km.

Tickets are sold through the tournament's official site. Centre Court seats must be bought separately from grounds tickets, which are also available in person at the tournament ticket office on the day.

Entry to the two qualifying days is free — no ticket needed, and it is real ATP tennis.

The two qualifying days are free. No ticket required. It is the cheapest way to see ATP players on grass anywhere in the world.

Your ticket is a free transport pass. Tournament tickets cover city and regional buses, trains and trams in Bielefeld and across the Gütersloh, Herford, Lippe and Minden-Lübbecke districts. Valid from four hours before play starts to four hours after it finishes, second class.

Centre Court is separate. A grounds ticket does not admit you to Centre Court — that is a separate purchase.

There is a roof. Centre Court is covered when needed, so a washed-out day does not happen here.

Do not confuse the two Halles. This is Halle in Westphalia, near Bielefeld. The other Halle is near Leipzig, 300 km east.