Launch of a platform to promote girls and women

For more than three decades, the WTA tournament "Upper Austria Ladies Linz" has been a favourite meeting place for the best female players in the world! The crème de la crème of women's tennis have already presented themselves in Upper Austria, from Martina Navratilova to Serena and Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Angelique Kerber, Ana Ivanovic and Coco Gauff. Sandra Reichel, who celebrated her 20th anniversary as tournament director last year, goes one step further and says: "We are more than just a tennis tournament!"  

Sandra Reichel knows what she's talking about! As a former professional tennis player and entrepreneur, the Wels native has the best insight into the big, wide worlds of sport and business. A valuable experience that she would like to pass on to young girls and women. An initiative for which Sandra Reichel was able to inspire eloquent partners from the local economy - such as the Oberösterreichische Versicherung and Oberndorfer (both with women at the top of the company).

"The Upper Austrian Ladies have rightly become a real classic in international women's tennis. The high-calibre participants and the enthusiasm in the hall underline the sporting importance of this tournament. As the number 1 insurer in Upper Austria, we feel obliged to give back part of our success by sponsoring the sport. We are delighted to be making our "debut" as a partner of this fantastic tournament this year. Personally, I can hardly wait for the first matches," says the CEO of Oberösterreichische Versicherung, Kathrin Kühtreiber-Leitner MBA. 

"Having women's tennis in Linz is a sensation for Upper Austria, something that only Sandra Reichel has achieved several times with her commitment and ambition. The women impress with their top performance and great talent. A great event that you should definitely attend! In general, we like to support sport wherever we can and already sponsor many clubs - from tennis to football. Above all, we want to inspire children and young people to be active in sport. A fit, healthy team is also very important to us within the company. We have launched the OBERNDORFER POWER WORKOUT and do sport together," says Simone Oberndorfer (CEO).

"Ladies.In Business & Sport." "With the Upper Austria Ladies Linz, we not only want to offer world-class women's tennis, but also see it as our responsibility to stand up for the advancement of women in general. We want to be active in this important area all year round," explains Sandra Reichel, who also announces the kick-off for the "ladies.in business&sports" initiative. At the WTA tournament in the Tips Arena!

When, if not at Austria's most important women's sporting event, the women's tennis classic "Upper Austria Ladies" in Linz, should the starting signal for a sustainable initiative be given! An initiative in sporting activity, sporting development and career planning. An important element of this is networking and the utilisation of networks with the initiators and supporters of the initiative. A fixed, annual meeting point for all participants in the initiative is the Linz WTA tournament! 

The KICK OFF will take place, as mentioned, at this year's tournament - with focal points such as 

Mentoring, leadership workshops, networking, coach training and the biggest young talent initiative in the history of Austrian tennis: 1,000 rackets for 1,000 girls! The first 100 rackets will be handed over on Girls' Day (Sunday, 7 November)!