It’s not going to fail due to a lack of ambition, perhaps though due to financing. Dieter Fischer wants to turn his new tennis complex in the Filderstadt district of Plattenhardt into a meeting place for the world elite. Crazy, isn’t it? Maybe a little. The companies upon whose doors he knocked at the time promptly underestimate the ambition of the man. He is however let in by Lars Schmidt, the then board member for sales and marketing at Porsche AG, who listens to and likes the idea of creating a special sports event in the little known Filder district south of Stuttgart. “He,” admits Fischer, “is the person I have to thank for there being a tournament.” And the tennis world for the birth of a classic.