In 2014, a 17-year-old Alexander Zverev arrived in Braunschweig on a wildcard, ranked No. 665, and left with the first Challenger title of his career. He defeated three top-100 players on the way, including a three-set final victory against Paul Henri Mathieu, and that week made Braunschweig one of the most recognizable Challenger tournaments on the circuit. Now after twelve years later, that same tournament will not exist.  

Brunswiek Marketing GmbH, organizing company and a subsidiary of the title sponsor Volksbank BRAWO, has announced that the BRAWO Open will not be held in 2027. The firm informed its partners, co-sponsors and local officials that it can no longer host the tournament, and a search for additional sponsors and a co-organizer has so far come up empty. There has been no announcement of an alternative plan or replacement backer. The reason lies in the bank’s own troubles. 

“This is a bitter decision,” Volksbank BRAWO chairman-designate Jürgen Wache said in a statement translated from German. “The traditional tournament has been an important date in the annual calendar of Braunschweig and the region for years. It connected top sport with culture.” 

He explained that the bank is in a comprehensive restructuring, which leaves little room for large sponsorships. Managing director Markus Beese said the organizers had hoped until the very end to win more partners and co-sponsors. After significant write-downs, the bank posted a preliminary 2025 figure of minus €608.1 million, which it made up for with its reserves and the cooperative banking system’s support. 

Events below the top tier are usually heavily dependent on one single sponsor or public funder, and Braunschweig is not the first to fall when that support disappeared. A Challenger in Singapore ran in 2011 and 2012 before it was cancelled in 2013 after the Singapore Sports Council reduced its funding, and the Rio Tennis Classic was cancelled in 2018 for lack of sponsors before returning in 2021 at a different venue.

As far as the funding crisis is concerned, tennis has a famous escape case. In 2009, the founders of Indian Wells were under pressure from overseas bidders, and the tournament was close to being sold and moved abroad, to China or the Middle East. Oracle founder Larry Ellison bought the event and its venue for a reported $100 million and invested heavily in upgrading both. It has since earned the nickname “Tennis Paradise,” and players voted it ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 Tournament of the Year for ten straight years through 2024. It drew a record 527,626 fans in 2026.

A 32-edition history

First staged in 1994, the BRAWO Open is the longest-running Challenger in Germany and the ninth longest on the tour. It won the ATP Challenger of the Year for four consecutive years from 2014 to 2017 and then again in 2019, and its winners’ list includes some of the most talented clay players. Before Zverev’s run in 2014, the tournament had winners like Gastón Gaudio, Andrea Gaudenzi, who’s now the ATP chairman, Tomas Berdych, and Florian Mayer.

Jan-Lennard Struff did the double in 2022, winning the singles and doubles titles. Óscar Hernández won the most singles titles, three, in 2005, 2007 and 2009. Players such as Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka also competed there over the years.

The final edition was played in July. Briton Jan Choinski, the fourth seed, beat Hugo Gaston 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 to become its last singles champion for now, while Brazilians Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos won the doubles title.

A rescue for Braunschweig is not impossible, but it would require a new organizer and a new financial backer, and that needs to happen soon to reserve the 2027 calendar slot.