Munich. The first serve has already been played at the BMW Open 2024. However, this first action did not involve a ball: instead, Christian Ach, Head of BMW Germany, and tournament director Patrik Kühnen pulled back a large sheet on the Center Court at MTTC Iphitos. They thereby revealed the 2023 Winner’s Car for the historic ATP Tour clay-court tournament: the all-electric BMW i5 M60 (Combined power consumption: 21.2–18.2 kWh/100 km. Combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km. Electric range: 439–516 kilometers. All data according to WLTP). The vehicle, its electric motors, and the high-voltage batteries are all produced at the BMW Group Plant Dingolfing. In the main singles draw, 28 top players have the opportunity to claim the BMW Open title along with 250 valuable world ranking points, 85,605 Euro in prize money, and one of the most sought-after BMW vehicles currently available.

“The BMW Group is delighted to hand over the first-ever all-electric 5 Series to the winner of the BMW Open 2024,” said Christian Ach, Head of BMW Germany, after the big reveal. “The BMW i5 M60 will assume a leading role on the path to sustainable premium mobility in the upper mid-size segment. This fully-electric car also delivers the dynamic performance of a BMW M. It is the perfect sporting car for a Bavarian champion.”

Each year, around 290,000 BMW 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Series cars, the fully-electric BMW iX, and BMW M GmbH cars are produced at the BMW Group Plant Dingolfing, which employs more than 18,000 people. This is also the home of the competence centre for e-drive production.

Kühnen had visited the BMW Group Plant Dingolfing in March to conduct a thorough BMW check of this year’s winner’s car together with the employees during the “finish” – the final quality controls at the plant. “It was impressive to experience the modern manufacturing methods and the attention to detail that the BMW Group applies to producing its cars,” said Kühnen. “I also had the opportunity to drive ‘our’ BMW i5 M60, and I have to say that the winner of the BMW Open 2024 can really look forward to a fascinating Winner’s Car.”

The new BMW 5 Series limousine underlines its progressive character with innovative digital services, including options for in-car gaming, audio and video streaming, and extremely high-end driver assistance systems. One of the highlights of the systems for automated driving and parking is the Highway Assistant, which enables the person at the controls to take their hands from the wheel for an extended period at speeds of up to 130 km/h and leave them in a relaxed position, while still paying close attention to events on the road and remaining ready to resume control of driving tasks at any time.

The BMW i5 is a far more comfortable proposition than the path to the title at the BMW Open 2024, as the tournament has attracted the usual top-quality entrants. Three players from the top 15 will be in action: defending champion Holger Rune (NOR, world no. 7 ), who has claimed the last two titles at MTTC Iphitos, Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (GER, 5), who tasted victory at the BMW Open in 2017 and 2018, and the USA no.1, Taylor Fritz (13). They will be joined by 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem (AUT, 97), Jan-Lennard Struff (GER, 25), who reached the BMW Open final three years ago, and top Canadian top player Felix Auger-Aliassime (35).

Electrifying sporting performance – this is a description that does not just apply to the players on court. Just like the winner’s car, the shuttle fleet that BMW will employ during the tournament is also 100% electric. It consists exclusively of fully-electric BMW i7, BMW i5 and BMW i5 Touring, BMW iX, BMW iX1 and BMW iX2 cars.

Tennis fans in Germany have many opportunities to watch the BMW Open on TV or via livestream. Bayerisches Fernsehen (BR) will broadcast one quarter-final, one semi-final, and the final live. All the matches on Center Court (Monday to Sunday) can be seen live on Sky (pay TV) and are also shown on ran.de, joyn, and BR24.de.