Hamburg to stage ATP event in 2009 despite legal row

Hamburg will stage an ATP tennis tournament in 2009 despite a legal battle over the future of the event, the German tennis federation (DTB) said on Thursday.

"We have told the ATP that we are ready and in a position to stage the tournament next year," DTB president Georg von Waldenfels told German news agency SID.

The DTB is appealing against a U.S. court decision in August which upheld the ATP's right to downgrade the status of the Hamburg tournament.

From 2009, the former Masters Series event will be reduced to "500" status, a level below the Masters Series tournaments which are being rebranded next year as "1000s".

The appeal is expected to be heard in early 2009.

As part of an overall restructuring of the men's tour, the Hamburg organisers have also had to move the tournament from its traditional May date to late July.

Von Waldenfels said next year's edition would run from July 20-26 and offer total prize money of around 1.2 million euros ($1.52 million), down from 2.27 million this year.