The German player triumphed in the women’s event two years ago in Vienna with Kira Walkenhorst, where they added the world title to their Olympic gold from Rio 2016.

Ludwig will target further World Championships success in front of her home crowd with new partner Maggie Kozuch.

The duo will begin their campaign at Am Rothenbaum Stadium with a match against the United States' Kelley Larsen and Emily Stockman.

Tomorrow will see the start of the group phase, with matches taking place in 12 pools.

The top two teams in each four-team pool will progress to the last 32, alongside the best four third-place finishers.

The remaining third-place teams will enter playoffs to determine the remaining four qualifiers.

One of the highlights of the opening day’s action will be the clash between Anders Mol and Christian Sorum from Norway and Cuba’s Sergio Gonzalez and Luis Reyes in the men’s event.

Mol and Sorum head into the tournament as favourites, having been ranked as the top men’s team for the past 47 weeks.

The duo have won seven of their past 10 International Volleyball Federation World Tour events.

This run included a victory on the Rothenbaum centre court last August.

The group stage of the competition will take place until July 3.

Quarter and semi-final matches will be staged on July 6, with the medal matches held the following day.