The compliments for the “Upper Austria Ladies Linz” come from a well known audience
“The tournament in Linz has become an event.That’s the best thing to say about a tournament,”said Steve Simon, CEO of WTA, at a press breakfast in the VIP club of the Tips Arena on Sunday.
Mats Wilander, a Swedish tennis mentleman who was invited by tournament ambassador Barbara Schett to Linz for the first time, said:”I am generally very impressed by the special atmosphere.I am very surprised by the high level of the tournament.We’ve seen first-class matches, the players play a very variable tennis.And there’s more finesse in women’s tennis.”
Steve Simon responded to the question of where the WTA will be in five to ten years’ time:”We want to achieve a better value, a stronger product on the court.People like stars who dominate this sport.A closer cooperation with the ITF, player education is very important.”
Simon also outed himself as a supporter of combined men’s and women’s events:”The fans would enjoy watching both of them.The more tournaments there are with men and women, the better,”explained Simon.Peter-Michael Reichel had the idea for combined tournaments already 20 years ago.
Simon also finds it a “good decision”that the agency MatchMaker has recently been licensed by Peter Michael and Sandra Reichel for the traditional tournament in Hamburg.And he welcomes the idea that from 2019 onwards there will be not only an ATP tournament but also a WTA tournament in Hamburg.
P. M. commented on the premiere of “Upper Austria Ladies Linz”.Reichel:”The tennis we’ve seen here this week is great.We have been compensated for the bad luck we had this year with rejections from top players.I would also like to thank the media, who have acknowledged this.The closing words of the press breakfast were from Mats Wilander, and everyone liked to hear:”I’m sure I’ll be back in Linz.”