Top ten star Jelena Ostapenko completes the strong field of participants

Tournament director Sandra Reichel has signed another top ten star in a night session: The in-form Jelena Ostapenko, who is currently still in the doubles final at the Australian Open, receives the third wildcard and completes the strong field of participants at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz! The world number ten from Latvia played the memorable Linz final against Coco Gauff in 2019 (3:6, 6:1, 2:6) - this time she would love to triumph in Upper Austria. "I'm really looking forward to returning to the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. I have so many great memories of the tournament and the beautiful city of Linz. Five years ago, I made it to the final. Maybe I can do a bit better this year." The 2017 French Open winner emphasises: "It will certainly be a great tournament!" The Upper Austria Ladies Linz, which is celebrating its premiere as a WTA 500 tournament, will compete for 922,573 US dollars in prize money and a newly created iconic winner's trophy from Swarovski from 28 January to 4 February.
 
Jelena Ostapenko, who once became a superstar overnight with her Roland Garros triumph as a 20-year-old, has recently made a strong return to the top of the world rankings. Just before the Australian Open, she won the WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide. In Melbourne, the 26-year-old from Riga will go for the doubles title alongside Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok in the final early on Sunday morning (European time) against Elise Mertens/Hsieh Su-wie. She has already won more than 14 million US dollars in prize money and seven WTA titles in her career. In 2018, she achieved her best career ranking to date with fifth place.
 
Sandra Reichel is delighted that - after Australian Open shooting star Dayana Jastremska (Ukraine) - she has now been able to secure the second world-class player for the line-up of the Linz women's tennis classic at short notice: "Jelena still has a score to settle with Linz, I know that she is determined to win the title here. I really appreciate her as a personality and tennis player, she is like no other! Jelena already won a Grand Slam tournament at a young age. She's currently back in that impressive form where she can beat any player in the world. Her fast strokes are among the fastest on the entire tour. I know that she will thrill our tennis audience in Linz."
 
Unfortunately, Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova had to cancel. The world number seven from the Czech Republic has suffered a shoulder injury, which already affected her in Australia: "I'm sorry that I can't play in Linz this time. I was really looking forward to playing in this beautiful tournament again, but unfortunately my body needs some time to recover. I wish the tournament all the best and every success in its first edition as the WTA 500 and hope to see my Austrian fans again soon," said the 24-year-old.