Tennis week of superlatives

For more than three decades, the Upper Austria Ladies Linz has set an exclamation mark for women's sport in Austria. From 6 to 12 February, our province will once again be in the international spotlight at the 32nd edition of the WTA tournament. The world-class tennis event will have a new look in 2023. A new chapter in the tournament's history will be opened with the date of the event being brought forward to the beginning of the tennis year and the return to the Design Centre.

The organising team led by Sandra Reichel is already looking forward to a tennis week of superlatives with sport and side events at the highest level, as are Markus Achleitner, Provincial Councillor for Economic Affairs and Sport, and the Upper Austrian tennis fans.

Lighthouse event for women's sport and for the sport, tourism and business location of Upper Austria, tourism and business location Upper Austria

Upper Austria's Councillor for Economic Affairs and Sport Markus Achleitner emphasises the importance of the tournament for Upper Austria as a sporting region and especially for women's sport in the state. "No other women's sporting event attracts as much attention as the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. The images from Upper Austria are broadcast to over 100 countries around the world - the tournament literally acts as a beacon for the sporting province and the location of Upper Austria. In addition, thousands of visitors will once again be on site this year to keep their fingers crossed for the top players," says Achleitner, who is looking forward to a great tennis festival after the 2020 and 2021 editions took place without or with a limited number of fans.

The stage that the world class-The event is also used to showcase the breadth of women's sport in Upper Austria. Under the motto Upper Austria Sport Ladies, Upper Austrian female athletes from other sports will be invited to take part in a very special "Tennis 3-Combat" as part of the tournament, where they can put their tennis ball skills to the test in several challenges. Another positive innovation: Sandra Reichel's push to organise a green event is fully in line with the guidelines of the province of Upper Austria. This applies, for example, to the tourism strategy that is currently being developed as well as to the goals of the Sportland Upper Austria. Incidentally, this year the focus will once again be on tennis internationally. For the first time since 2001, both an international women's and men's top tournament will be held in Upper Austria. "After last year's successful premiere, Upper Austria will once again host the ATP Challenger tournament Danube Upper Austria Open at the new Danubis Tennis Centre Mauthausen in the second week of May - the date has just been officially fixed. A perfect double event for local tennis fans, who will first get their money's worth in Linz," says Achleitner.

Advantage Ladies - a new, sustainable initiative

The Upper Austria Ladies Linz has been an exclamation mark for women's sport in Austria for decades! On the one hand, of course, this applies from a sporting point of view in relation to world-class women's tennis. On the other hand, a full-day symposium is now for the first time focussing on various aspects of the state of women's sport in Austria. Under the title "Advantage Ladies Upper Austria Ladies Linz, On 10 February, Sport Austria and ÖTV are jointly inviting sports federations, sports organisations, media, sponsors and political representatives to a mega-exciting day dedicated to women's sport. The aim of the premiere event is to make women's sport more visible, position it more clearly and strengthen it overall.

The list of speakers includes the following personalities: WTA President Micky Lawler, geneticist Markus Hengstschläger, ÖFB team manager Irene Fuhrmann, the President of the Austrian Paralympic Committee, Maria Rauch-Kallat, TV presenter, tournament ambassador and former world-class player Barbara Schett, OÖN editor-in-chief Susanne Dickstein, ORF presenter Alina Zellhofer plus a number of sportswomen from Austria.

As a sporting finale to the symposium, all participants can watch the quarter-final matches of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz track. A ticket for this symposium at a price of 89 euros (incl. match ticket) can be purchased via the tournament homepage www.ladieslinz.at can be purchased.

"1,000 tennis rackets for 1,000 girls"

"1,000 tennis rackets for 1,000 girls" is the biggest initiative for young tennis players in Austria to date! The campaign, which was organised together with the ÖTV and the OÖTV at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2021 The programme aims to encourage children to take part in sporting activities and therefore also has a social benefit. The organisers provide a total of 1,000 tennis rackets, which are distributed to 1,000 girls in the Age between 6 and 10 years be "raffled off".

The common goal of all those involved is to encourage more girls to take up sport and, of course, tennis in particular. The winners will receive their tennis rackets on 12 February 2023, the final day of the tournament. This also includes a taster session on the same day, contact with coaches and club representatives as well as a bulging "goody bag". Tournament director Sandra Reichel is pursuing a major goal: "My wish would be for every girl in Austria to have the chance to hold a tennis racket in their hands once in their life. to hold. Owning a tennis racket is the first hurdle to playing tennis. We then create the necessary sustainability through contacts with coaches, clubs and associations and other offers for training and taster sessions."

Registrations can now be made via the tournament homepage www.ladieslinz.at take place

The first 100 winners will be drawn from all entries and informed about the further procedure for handing over the prize.

"Wild Card Challenge" as a springboard onto the world tennis stage

The prelude to the Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2023 WTA tournament is once again the "Young Ladies Wild Card Challenge", which was launched in 2018 and will take place at the Froschberg Tennis Centre from 27 to 29 January 2023. 16 Austrian players (U26) will compete for a coveted "free ticket", which entitles the winner of the challenge to take part in the qualifiers for the WTA tournament. ÖTV Women's Sports Coordinator Marion Maruska explains: "The Upper Austria Young Ladies Wild Card Challenge offers our young players the opportunity to take part in Austria's biggest women's tournament by winning. This not only allows them to gain valuable experience, but also gives them new impetus for their tennis and gives them a taste of where they would like to play later on. Thanks to Sandra Reichel and her team for their cooperation."

Ticket specials for women's groups and for the 50th anniversary of the WTA

Tickets for the Upper Austria Ladies Linz are available via the tournament homepage www.ladieslinz.atat all oeticket advance booking offices and (within Austria) via the ticket hotline 0900 94 96 096*. For the first time, special "after-work" tickets will be available during the week. "We want to give tennis fans the opportunity to watch the main matches of the day in the afternoon after work at an attractive price," says Sandra Reichel, explaining the background to this promotion.

*The hotline is available from Monday to Sunday, 10 am to 7 pm (€ 1.09/min incl. VAT).

There is also a new offer for all women's groups of four or more, who will be welcomed with Prosecco in addition to a discounted ticket price. There is another ticket special for the Tuesday of the tournament. To mark the 50th anniversary of the WTA, all women will receive 50 per cent off a KAT 1 ticket on this day. All information on the ticket offer can be found at www.ladieslinz.at to find.