Tennis tournament in Linz

The prize money rises to 1.06 million dollars!

Tournament director Sandra Reichel (center) with Julia Grabher (right) and Mavie Österreicher (left), who earned a qualifying wildcard.

(Bild: cityfoto.at)

At the 2nd edition of the Upper Austrian tennis classic, which starts tomorrow in Linz as a WTA 500 event, there's $140,000 more to be earned than in 2024. The event also scores points with numerous strong side events, in which women's sport in general, for example, is put in the spotlight.

The tournament starts tomorrow with the qualifiers and the draw for the main competition starting on Monday, yesterday she was still coughing heavily and sipping tea at the press conference.

We're not talking about one of the stars of the Upper Austria Ladies, but Sandra Reichel. The tournament director invites you to the 34th edition of the traditional tennis event, which is being held as a WTA 500 event for the second time after the upgrade! "The tournament brings us out into the world as a phenomenal ambassador - and the world to Linz," says Dietmar Prammer, the city's managing deputy mayor.

"It's a flagship project and not only the most important women's tennis event in Austria, but with its side events much more than just a tennis tournament," says Deputy Mayor Karin Hörzing, referring to the fact that the FE&MALE Sports Conference "Advantage Ladies" on Wednesday will focus on women's sport. There will also be a focus on sustainability and inclusion.

Tournament sets the tone
The yellow felt ball will of course take center stage at the Design Center, and this year it will be even more worthwhile for female hunters to do well in Linz. While 922,000 dollars were paid out last year, this year it is 142,000 dollars more - and a total of 1.06 million dollars!

"The WTA's plan is to adjust the prize money to that of the men's tournaments by 2030, and we will also receive more money from the media pool," explains Reichel. Incidentally, 2.47 million was last paid out at the men's ATP 500 in Vienna in 2024.

Three wildcards still open
"There is still a clear difference to the men, but every increase shows that things are moving forward. Having a 500 tournament in Austria is definitely something special, you can't value it highly enough," says Julia Grabher, who is Austria's hope alongside Sinja Kraus.

Karolina Muchova serves in Linz

(Bild: EPA)

Reichel has to decide by 4 pm on Saturday who will receive one of the coveted four wildcards for the main event alongside the Czech Karolina Muchova, who is probably the top seed in the world rankings. The field of participants must then be finalized - which is no easy task, especially as the top players will be heading to Europe directly after the Australian Open and after Linz, the Arabia Tour with Dabu Dhabi (WTA-500), Doha (WTA-1000) and Dubai (WTA 1000) will follow. Meanwhile, the 250 event in Singapore will take place during the Linz week.

Many former top 10 aces
"In any case, our field is incredibly tight with many interesting and different types of players and personalities," says TV commentator and tournament ambassador Barbara Schett, who is still at the Australian Open until Monday, about the starting field, which includes Olympic champion Belinda Bencic (Sz), former world number three Elina Svitolina (Ukr) and Maria Sakkari (Gre) and Wimbledon 2023 winner Marketa Vondrousova (Tch). Top tennis is guaranteed.