Alison Riske secures the fourth US triumph at the "Upper Austria Ladies Linz" in a high-class final

Alison Riske is the fourth US-American to win the WTA tournament "Upper Austria Ladies Linz" - after Chanda Rubin (1997), Lindsay Davenport (2000, 2001) and Coco Gauff (2019). In a high-class, dramatic final on Friday evening, Alison Riske defeated Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 2:6, 6:2, 7:5 in front of almost 2,000 spectators in the TipsArena after a playing time of 2:24 hours. The 31-year-old winner took home 25,000 dollars in prize money, while the 23-year-old finalist received 14,000 dollars.

Neither Alison Riske, no. 73 in the WTA rankings, nor Jaqueline Cristian (no. 100) would have dared to dream of lifting the winner's trophy at the WTA tournament "Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2021" at the start of the tournament. But luck was on their side: the US-American benefited in the semi-finals from the withdrawal of her compatriot Danielle Collins due to injury. The Romanian, on the other hand, had initially failed to qualify against Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) and was a "lucky loser" in the main draw due to the cancellation of her compatriot Sorana Cirstea and should have played Simona Halep (also Romanian) in the semi-finals. However, the 30-year-old had to withdraw due to knee problems. This left 23-year-old Jaqueline Cristian facing the "match of her life". And her coach Thomas Drouet had promised her an exclusive Louis Vuitton bag as a special gift if she won the final. Maybe it will work next time!

The well-known Poxrucker Sisters provided the musical accompaniment to the surprise final between Jaqueline Cristian and Alison Riske, while numerous guests of honour were seated in the stands - including Governor Thomas Stelzer, Linz's Deputy Mayor Karin Hörzing and numerous mayors from Upper Austria, who had been invited to the final by tournament director Sandra Reichel. They were all just as enthusiastic about the final as the fans, who gave both players a standing ovation after the match point.

Cristian won the hearts of the fans

Alison Riske only shook off her final trauma at the last moment of this memorable match - the US-American has been in a WTA final ten times and lost eight times. The triumph in Linz in her eleventh final was also her third title on the WTA Tour. "I especially want to thank the crowd, you were so great! It's almost sold out and that's something we haven't had for almost two years. The tournament is really first class! I hope to play here again soon. I'm so grateful," said the beaming winner. And Jaqueline Cristian said: "I'm very happy that we were able to share this moment. There are so many emotions inside me right now. The spectators were fantastic, and have been all week. I hope to see you again next year. I would like to thank my coach and everyone who organised this great tournament."

A role model for Upper Austria. "This tournament is a role model for what we need in Upper Austria. Especially this year, a big thank you to tournament director Sandra Reichel and her team as well as the players for offering us this tournament," said Governor Thomas Stelzer. "We have seen some great tennis this week, a big thank you to all the partners and sponsors who have made this tournament possible. Congratulations to the players," said Deputy Mayor Karin Hörzing before the award ceremony.

Russian success in the doubles final

The doubles final at the "Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2021" ended with a Russian triumph! Natela Dzalamidze/Kamilla Rakhimova were seeded number three and ended up as number one - with a 6:4, 6:2 victory over the Chinese duo Xinyu Wang/Saisai Zheng. Dzalamidze not only had praise for her doubles partner, but also for the fans in Linz: "It's the first time this year that we've been able to experience such an atmosphere in the doubles. It's all the more encouraging and helped us a lot." The winners received prize money of 9,000 US dollars, while the finalists received 5,000 dollars.