LINZ, February 4, 2024 (Press Release)
At the same time as the guest of honour Ana Ivanovic was arriving at Linz Airport late Saturday afternoon, the 2,500-capacity crowd in the Design Center was watching top class semifinals tennis at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz.
In the first match of the penultimate day, the No. 2 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated crowd favourite Donna Vekic 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) in a match that was hard to beat in terms of drama and quality. The tournament’s number one seed, Jelena Ostapenko then defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-3. In top form right from the start, the Latvian served a total of ten aces. For the first time since 2020 when Aryna Sabalenka beat Belgium’s Elise Mertens, the tournament’s top two seeds will meet in the final. Later in the evening, the former world No. 1 and two-time Linz winner Ana Ivanovic arrived at the Design Center where she gave autographs, was interviewed and watched the famous Austrian desert Kaiserschmarren being prepared in the VIP area. She fondly recalled her tournament victories in Linz in 2008 and 2010 and raved about the wonderful hospitality and feel-good atmosphere of the events organised by the Tournament Director Sandra Reichel and her father Peter-Michael Reichel: “The Linz tournament always had a very special family feel and it was one of my favourite tournaments.” The 2008 French Open winner was taken by the new iconic trophy made by Swarovski: “There was no trophy like it in my day. It’s definitely an upgrade, I’d just love to take it away with me.” In the VIP area, the Serbian also met Donna Vekic from Croatia. They had their photos taken together, chatted and Ivanovic cheered up the dejected losing semifinalist.
🛬 @anaivanovic has landed in Linz! #WTALinz pic.twitter.com/E1UU09a9Rs
— #WTALinz (@WTALinz) February 3, 2024
“I played my heart out, my level was very good, but I couldn’t do much more today. Of course, I’m disappointed because I really like this tournament,” said the 27-year-old, who had led 5-1 in the third set tie-break and then brilliantly saved a match point at 6-5 down to loud cheers in the Design Center. After Alexandrova then converted her second match point with a service winner, Vekic was given a standing ovation when she walked off court. “The support was great, and I’ve enjoyed this week,” said the world No. 34 who had reached the semifinals for the first time at her seventh attempt in Linz. Alexandrova, who lives not far away in Prague, is also a regular in Upper Austria. She made her breakthrough on the Tour here in 2018 when reaching the final (losing to Camila Giorgi). “I always play well here. In fact, I don’t play better at any other tournament. Now I have to rest a little as the final will be another difficult affair. Jelena hits a lot of winners and it’s so difficult to play against her,” said the world No. 21 before continuing, “A win would mean so much to me. I played my first final here. And to win the title now would be incredible.” Ostapenko, the world No. 12, once again wore her “lucky outfit” she co-designed. It again bought her luck as she overcame Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2015 Linz winner, in only 74 minutes. The Latvian only slowed down after the match as it took her almost 20 minutes to get off the court and into the dressing room. Dozens of fans had mobiles and pens at the ready and Ostapenko patiently signed autographs and smiled for the cameras, all the while enjoying the atmosphere in the arena and the support of the crowd. She also hoped that the fans would cheer her on in the final on Sunday at 2 p.m.: “Thank you for coming, it’s a pleasure to play here,” said the 26-year-old from Riga. “The final will be a very tough match, but I feel like I’m playing better match by match. Hopefully I can do it all again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll all come along and cheer me on.” The Upper Austria Ladies Linz has prize money totalling 922,573 US dollars at stake. The winner will receive the new iconic trophy from Swarovski, which is adorned with 8,100 crystals. The Upper Austrian singer-songwriter Ina Regen will get the crowd in the – musical – mood before the singles final – in keeping with Upper Austria Day. In the doubles final after the singles, the Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini will face the top seeded pairing of Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) and Ellen Perez (Australia). Wheelchair Nations CupIn the Wheelchair Nations Cup contested by the best wheelchair tennis players from Austria and Germany, the latter duly extracted revenge after being beaten in the first encounter last year.Austria (with Christina Pesendorfer and Nico Langmann) won the mixed doubles against Britta Wend und Anthony Dittmar, but the Germans then dominated their respective singles matches. In July 2023, the players first went head-to-head at the Hamburg European Open. Back then Austria came out on top after three exciting matches. Congrats Germany!The inclusion event was also supported this year by “Volkshilfe Oberösterreich”.
