“A big thank you to Sandra and her team, they spoil us and always look after us so well. I hope to be here again next year,” said Ostapenko during the trophy ceremony to great applause. For the third consecutive day, there was a capacity 2,500 crowd in Linz’s Design Center. In addition to the trophy adorned with 8,100 crystals, she also took home prize money totalling 123,480 euros. The defeated Alexandrova was gracious in defeat saying: “Congratulations to Jelena, she played great. Thanks to the fans, it was great fun to play in Linz again.” The world No. 21 lives not far away in Prague and is a regular at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz where she was the runner-up in 2018 against Camila Giorgi.
On Upper Austria Day, the local singer-songwriter Ina Regen provided the musical backdrop to the final, while tennis legend Ana Ivanovic was honoured in advance on Centre Court and interviewed by Tournament Ambassador Barbara Schett. The 2008 and 2010 Linz winner, who had already completed a photo shoot in the “Schlossmuseum” earlier in the day, also tossed the coin before the singles final together with Upper Austria’s Governor Thomas Stelzer. Other guests of honour included Markus Achleitner, Upper Austrian Councillor for Economic Affairs and Sports, Klaus Luger, Mayor of Linz, and Karin Hörzing, Deputy Mayor of Linz.
They saw a match that was typical for Ostapenko with her high-speed power tennis. The Australian Open doubles runner-up had only dropped one set in her three previous encounters – in her opening match on Thursday evening when she, despite jet lag and being a match point down, clinched the 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7) win against the young Danish star Clara Tauson just after midnight. “That’s what makes a champion, that you still fight your way through. After that I realised that I could win this tournament. And now I have the trophy!” It will take pride of place in her living room in Riga. “The trophy is so beautiful. I don’t have to hide it. I’ll put it in a place where I can always see it,” said the Latvian with a liking for interior design.
In the Upper Austria Ladies Linz doubles final, the Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini took on the No. 1 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) and Ellen Perez (Australia). With Errani’s experience and Paolini’s carefree attitude, the unseeded duo finally claimed the doubles title with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 win. All four doubles players were full of praise of the atmosphere in Linz. Melichar-Martinez was particularly grateful saying: “Thanks to Sandra! She is probably the best tournament organiser on the whole tour!”
At the final award ceremony, tournament director Sandra Reichel was symbolically presented with the “Aces for Bees” donation by Kathrin Kühtreiber-Leitner, borad director of Oberösterreichische Versicherung. 346 aces were hit during the tournament, but Oberösterreichische rounded it up to 700. This means that 700 honeycombs will be handed over to beekeepers in Upper Austria. This campaign is part of the sustainability philosophy of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz, which was once again certified as a “Green Event” this year.
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