Full house at LINZ AG Day

Vekic, now a regular in Linz with her seventh appearance, defeated Clara Burel from France 6:0, 7:6 (7:3) to reach her first semi-final in Upper Austria. "I'm in the semi-finals, anything can happen now. And I've already got my eye on the Swarovski trophy. It would fit very well in my flat," said the 27-year-old Monegasque by choice with a smile.

Her next opponent Ekaterina Alexandrova, who moved to the Czech Republic at the age of 13 and lives in Prague, defeated defending champion Anastasia Potapova 6:2 and 7:6 (10:8). The 2018 finalist, who was seeded second, not only likes the proximity to her home town at the tournament in Linz, but also the cuisine at the Courtyard by Marriot tournament hotel in particular. "Linz is like home to me. And the schnitzel in the hotel is always fantastic, I eat it every evening," said the world number 21, who traditionally plays well with her flat shots on the rebound ace surface under the indoor roof in Linz.

The number one of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz, Jelena Ostapenko, wore her "successful outfit" again for her match against the British qualifier Jodie Burrage, as she said herself. The ensemble with a pastel green and white striped top and purple skirt was created by the world number twelve and the fashion label. Tournament favourite Ostapenko left little to be desired with a 6:1 and 6:2 win; the Australian Open doubles finalist has largely overcome her fatigue. "I didn't feel comfortable on court in my tight opening match on Thursday, I was very tired and had to fight my way through. I haven't had many days off this year. But it was much better today. The hall was full, I like it when I can play in front of a full house." She will hopefully be able to do that again on Saturday in the semi-finals. She reached the final in Linz in 2019 (losing to Coco Gauff in three sets), and this year the avid collector of Swarovski figurines would love to lift the trophy, which is adorned with 8,100 crystals.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has already won the women's tennis classic in Linz once in 2015. In the quarter-finals this year, the former world number eleven beat Belgian fourth seed Elise Mertens by a surprisingly clear 6:3, 6:2. Mertens had to pay tribute to the hardships of travelling. The 2020 Linz finalist had won the Australian Open doubles title on Sunday (alongside Hsieh Su-wei), making her the new number one in the doubles world rankings. Pavlyuchenkova, known as "Pavs", was very pleased with her performance and was delighted with the impressive atmosphere at the Design Centre in Linz. "It would be a dream to reach the final again, but I'm looking from match to match," said the 2021 French Open finalist.  

In total, the WTA 500 premiere of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz has almost 922,573 US dollars in prize money at stake.

Quarter-final day is all about the premium partner LINZ AG

In addition to the top sporting performances on the courts, there was also plenty going on in the Public Village on LINZ AG Day, with LINZ AG CEO Dr Jutta Rinner as guest of honour tossing the coin in the final evening match between Pavlyuchenkova and Mertens. The Linz AG mascots "Sebastian" and "Dwarf" were also omnipresent. The dragon "Sebastian" got a selfie with Donna Vekic, who gave an autograph session at the Linz AG stand.
 
New grandstand partner Bender ensures seating comfort

Thanks to the long-established German company Bender (Baden-Württemberg), our grandstands could be erected in record time this year, the seats are wider and there are padded covers. Almost 71 years ago, company founder Karl Bender built his first grandstand for a motorbike race in his home town, and spectators around the world now sit on Bender grandstands at football matches, concerts and even Formula 1 events.