What tennis tournament would I like?

[Summerhillsquare]

I didn't know if there was a sports forum I'd missed so posted here.

Last year I managed to get a ticket to Wimbledon. Not this year. Tbh I found it a bit fraught, commercial and overwhelming outside of the actual courts, which were wonderful. So this year I will stick to watching on telly.

I would love to see some more tennis though this summer, live. Where should I go? Open to European and UK travel and to cracking open my savings account. I don't like extreme heat, does that rule Paris out? Any gems of tournaments you know about? Anyone been to Halle?

I think if you found Wimbledon crowded and overwhelming you'll find Paris the same, and maybe a smaller tournament will be more up your street.

I haven't been to Halle but it always looks well-organised, as do the women's tournaments in Bad Homburg and Berlin around the same time. Closer to home ahead of Wimbledon there's Eastbourne, which is both a men's and women's tournament. Very nice grounds, very relaxed vibe. Like a more low-key version of Wimbledon. The women's tournament in Birmingham the week before that is also very pleasant.

A slightly different option might be the small European tournaments after Wimbledon. They're very low-key and not much attention is paid to them, and there might not be any big names playing, but you'll get to see up-and-comers in picturesque cities - Budapest (women), Bastad in Sweden (men) and Hamburg (both) spring to mind. Actually they might get some better players this year because they come just before the Paris Olympics...

Ah I'd forgotten about the Olympics, good shout! Too late for tickets there i imagine.

I love Berlin so that'd be a good reason to go back. And Birmingham would be easy to get to.