Meanwhile, the stars of the WTA 500 tournament in Upper Austria are baking bread rolls on “City Linz Day”.
The City of Linz's Children's Day at the Design Center Linz was well attended, with children and young people under 15 enjoying the atmosphere at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. with free entry. Stars such as Germany's tennis mum Angelique Kerber, last year's Russian winner Anastasia Potapova and Ukraine's Australian Open sensation Dayana Yastremska were also very impressed by the environment at the Design Center Linz during the media day.
Former world number one Gerber, who is returning to Europe after maternity leave, won the tournament in Linz in 2013, but she still doesn't know Design Center Linz: “This year's hall is very special. I am happy to be promoted to WTA 500. I know how difficult it is to host a tennis tournament. Sandra Reichel and her team have worked hard over the years and now they are being rewarded.” The 36-year-old has come with her almost one-year-old daughter Liana and doesn't want to put any pressure on herself when she returns. Tour: “I want to enjoy my competition and play a lot of games, but I'm patient. should be. Anyway, the fire is still burning, so I'm back.
and another “child”
Potapova brought her toy poodle “Baby” to Lins; The little dog is reputed to be a lucky charm to protect the woman. “Whenever Baby is in a match, I play well,” joked the defending champion. The 22-year-old was very impressed with the new Swarovski trophy. “As the saying goes: diamonds are a girl's best friend. This trophy is beautiful and this is the first time that Swarovski has designed such a trophy. This shiny gold cup is an extra motivation for me.
Yastremska wants to build on her strong form from Melbourne, where she sensationally qualified for the semi-finals: “You can't plan for something like that, it just happens. But it also required a lot of mental strength. Now I am waiting for Linz and then I am looking forward to a short visit to my motherland.
Pavliuchenkova and Boulder with opening wins
Meanwhile, the main event began on Monday: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who first won the 25th edition of the 2015 Linz Women's Tennis Tournament, defeated Italian Martina Trevisan (WTA 57), a former world number 11 (WTA 42) from Russia, 6-sets. :4 , 6:0 Small chance. Katie Boulder pulled off a surprise in the second main draw match: The Brit (WTA 53) beat sixth-seeded Italian Jasmine Paulini (WTA 24) 6:2, 6:2.
In the qualifying final, Italian veteran Sara Errani (WTA 99) defeated German Ella Seidel (WTA 160) 7:6 (5), 6:4 to advance to the main draw. Germany's Jules Niemeyer (WTA 159) lost to Spain's Nuria Parisas-Diaz (WTA 138) in the second qualifying round 6:3, 6:1.
Coincidentally, Elise Mertens, the new doubles world number one, will be in Linz. Belgium returned to the top thanks to their Melbourne win (along with Su-Wee Hsieh). He already held this position in 2021 thanks to his victories at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. On Monday afternoon, he arrived at the players' hostel, tired, happy and fit. Contest director Sandra Reichel welcomed them with a helium-filled No. 1.
Bacaldrin-Baking with Cornspits
One of the competition partners to ensure that the Women's Tennis Classic in Linz can bake big cakes in the future is Aston-based global company Bacaldrin-Kornspitze. At the company's headquarters, Wolfgang Mayer from management welcomed top-ranked Donna Vekic and Ekaterina Alexandrova as well as Austrian hopeful Sinja Krause. The trio lend a hand at the show bakery under the expert guidance of master baker Günter Koxeder.
Three tennis girls donning specially designed cooking aprons (“We'll bake together”) don't fail to have fun at Cornspits. Krause enjoyed the unusual task: “I want to do something away from the tennis court. Baking bread is a good idea.” Wekki also loved working at the bakery: “I love bread, but I've never baked it, a great experience.”
Of course, a detour to Bacaldir's very own Panium Bread Museum is not to be missed. It has a unique collection of exhibits in the world and deals with the thousands of years of history of ever present food bread. Recipes, literature, baking tools, equipment: For decades, Bacaltry owner Peter Augentopler has been collecting exhibits and information on the topic of his life on the top floor of the company's headquarters.
Gerber Regression and Cross Sorting
On Tuesday, Gerber will head into the match against LINZ AG. The first hurdle for the young German mother is Italian Lucia Bronzetti in the first match at 6:30 p.m. Krause, the wild card holder, will be the only Austrian in the main field of Austria Ladies Linz after 8:00 p.m. “I'm looking forward to your support, everybody come and cheer me on,” said Viennese, hoping for a full house in her home game on the WTA Tour. Her first round opponent is France's Clara Burel, ranked 52nd in the WTA rankings.
Tickets are available for the 33rd Upper Austria Ladies Linz at the Design Center Linz. Online-ticket shop and are available at all Ö-Ticket ticket offices.
