When the world’s tennis elite gathers at the Center Court of Rothenbaum this Saturday, it can only mean one thing: The Hamburg European Open has begun. For the first time, the Hamburg-based company Edel-Optics will be partner of the prestigious event and provides not only the referees with the perfect vision.

There will be no shortage of perfect sunglasses at this year’s Hamburg European Open since Edel-Optics is the perfect partner for the new direction into which this tradition-steeped tennis tournament is heading. The multichannel optician is one of the three largest online retailers of branded eyewear in Europe and ships prescription and sunglasses of more than 120 brands as well as its own in-house celebrity brands to over 120 countries out of Hamburg. Apart from Sylvie Meis and Dieter Bohlen, football player Jérôme Boateng has also designed his own eyewear collection in cooperation with Edel-Optics. “Together with our celebrity eyewear designers, we reinvent prescription and sunglasses; to us they are fashion accessories and must-haves”, says Denis Martens, founder and managing director of Edel-Optics.

In addition to its aspiration to offer a wide and highly diverse selection of prescription and sunglasses as a fashion-conscious online retailer, internationality has been a major topic for Edel-Optics since the company’s founding. But Edel-Optics has also been seriously involved in sports sponsorships for several years and was the official eyewear partner of the international motorsports event Race of Champions at the beginning of this year. The sheer size, international diversity and prominence of the Hamburg European Open were convincing arguments for Dennis Martens, founder and managing director of Edel-Optics, as to why the company should support the event as official partner this year.

Sports and fashion are the perfect match for Edel-Optics and this has been successfully proven by the cooperation with Jérôme Boateng, the Race of Champions and the sponsorship of the first league basketball club Hamburg Towers. The Hamburg-based company has been continuously working with the footballer since 2016 to set new eyewear trends. The cooperation between the professional basketball club and Edel-Optics has also been in place for several years and just last May they jointly celebrated the club’s promotion to the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga, Germany’s first league, and winning the championship title.  

After football, motorsports and basketball, now a new “double” is set to take place this summer since tennis also needs a strong partner on its side: Edel-Optics and the Hamburg European Open. “Reinventing traditions, modernization and an international outlook are, apart from the mutual Hamburg spirit, only some of the touchpoints connecting the Hamburg European Open and Edel-Optics. We are looking forward to the coming days and are happy that our partner will support us to liven up this event”, said Sandra Reichel, tournament director of the Hamburg European Open 2019.

Not only does Dennis Martens want to breathe new life into the tradition-rich tournament first held back in 1892, he also wants to support it on its way to becoming more modern and appealing to a new, broader target group. “With the new management, the tournament has set itself the goal to create a younger and more dynamic event. We will embark on this new journey together with the new organizer and will support Matchmaker Sports GmbH as a partner. We look forward to a modern and rejuvenated tennis tournament in our beautiful hometown”, said Dennis Martens.

Some changes have already been implemented as the famous Center Court of the Rothenbaum roof was renewed and the event’s name has been changed. Apart from supplying all referees with sunglasses, Edel-Optics will also be in charge of branding the referee’s chair on the Centre Court. However, there will be more than sunglasses off court since Edel-Optics has also prepared some merchandise for the tournament teams.

While goodie bags have been put together for VIP guests of the tournament and Players’ Night at the Tortue, tournament fans will have the chance to win tickets, goodies and more on Edel-Optics’ Instagram and Facebook pages.