Rotterdam 2026 (ATP 500)
(9 - 15 February) Rotterdam's indoor courts present an intriguing puzzle: players describe slow, heavy conditions, yet the statistics tell a different story. Here's what the data really shows.
Rotterdam's Court Speed Paradox: Player Perception vs. Data
This is my Preview of the Rotterdam ATP 500 tournament.
The ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam has been a top ATP 500 event since 1974, hosting generations of tennis legends like Borg, Connors, Hewitt, and Federer.
Rotterdam is played on Indoor Hard courts.
Speed Statistics
In terms of court speed data, these are the averages of the last 5 years.
- 73.0% Points Won on 1st serve
- 80.9% Service Holds
- 0.53 Aces/Game
- 0.26 TB/Set:
This figures are influenced by the year 2024, that was played especially fast (76.2% points won on the 1st serve).
So this is an example of how, sometimes, averages mean nothing. 2021 to 2023 was quite slow to be an indoor tournament and 2024 extremely quick. 2025 was played slower, with 73.1% .
Past Winners
2025: Alcaraz d. De Minaur
2024: Sinner d. De Minaur
2023: Medvedev d. Sinner
2022: Auger-Aliassime d. Tsitsipas
2021: Rublev d. Fucsovics
Federer has won Rotterdam three times and several players have lifted the trophy twice, being one of them Gale Monfils.
Weather
Next week in Rotterdam looks mostly cloudy, with highs around 5–11 °C (41–52 °F) and lows around 0–7 °C (32–45 °F). Expect periods of rain/showers mid-week. Humidity should stay high most of the week (roughly ~85–100% is a reasonable expectation).
Players Quotes
Alcaraz, 2025: "After one or two games, it's not easy to hit on this court as the ball is getting really big, and you have to play a lot of rallies.There's a big difference between the new and old balls. Normally they had different balls here, but it's the first time I've played here that there were lots of rallies, but I like it because all the players are so strong these days that there are so few rallies."
"There are a lot of exchanges due to the bigger balls, which had become quite unusual in the last two years because most tournaments have a few exchanges, and now it feels like going back six or seven years."
De Minaur, 2025: "Man, it felt slow out there," said De Minaur. "It's a very rough surface, and the ball got massive."
Fils, 2025: "It’s been a long time since I played on such a slow court."
Medvedev, 2025: These are slow balls (Technifibre) and slow courts. It’s not a new thing. I’m trying to do my best, and I know I’m playing well despite these courts and these balls.”
Tsitsipas, 2025: "It's slightly slower than I'm used to in terms of indoors. It has a bouncy effect; the ball stays in the hip zone when I'm striking it. It does have a bit of a clay vibe at times. It doesn’t skid through the court so much. I don't mind it. Maybe you have to work a little harder for the points."
Vavassori, 2025: "The court is slow, great to play and serve to be aggressive, so you can keep pushing your opponent."
Sinner, 2024: "The courts feel quite heavy. It changes with new balls. This is the fun of the sport. Every week is different conditions."
Van de Zandschulp, 2023: "The court is very slow and that was to his (Medvedev) advantage."
Summary
Tournament director Richard Krajicek said in 2021 that they would try to speed up the surface the following year. However, looking at the stats, it seems that didn’t really happen until 2024.
Last year, players repeatedly said the conditions felt really slow — both the court and the balls — with the balls fluffing up after just a few points and noticeably reducing pace. They also described the surface as rough.
Yet the data didn’t suggest exceptionally slow conditions: 73.1% points won on first serve, 81.7% service hold, 0.47 aces per game, and 0.31 tie-breaks per set.
Here’s likely what’s going on: when that many players say the same thing, it’s for a reason. It’s not just one isolated player who might have perceived the conditions differently from everyone else. Medvedev is an example. For him all the courts are slow :-).
But there’s also another reality: when the average level of the field is high (last year Alcaraz beat De Minaur in the final), the stats tend to “paint” the conditions as faster than they really are. A clear example is the ATP Finals — they’re almost always near the top in first-serve points won.
Elite serving tends to dominate the stats more than elite returning can offset it. In other words: the serve pushes the percentages up more than the return pulls them down.
At anycase, I’ll send an update by email to my Tennis Edge Daily suscribers, once all the qualies have been played and again after the full first round is completed, with more data to better assess this season’s court speed.
Draws
Here’s the link to the Qualies and Main draws — you can check it anytime to follow the latest updates and see which players advance through each round:
Qualies: https://www.protennislive.com/posting/2026/407/qs.pdf
Main Draw: https://www.protennislive.com/posting/2026/407/mds.pdf
