The draw will be made on Monday, June 2nd, matches will start on Tuesday, June 3rd, and the final will be on Sunday, June 8th. Will the best Egyptian tennis player play in it for the third time?
The tournament director of the WTA Makarska Open hosted by Valamar, Feliks Lukas, revealed who he handed the last wild card to. The best Egyptian tennis player Mayar Sherif, who has already won the tournament in Makarska once, and narrowly missed the title last year, will also play in the town under Biokovo. In a tense and uncertain final, the young American Katie Volynets, who we will be watching again this year, won.
Mayar defeated Jasmine Paolini in Makarska in 2023. The Italian is now in the top five best female tennis players in the world and, along with Jannik Sinner, the biggest Italian sports star. Paolini just started her stellar rise by winning this tournament in 2021, at its last edition in Bol. It was her first title in her career, and it is interesting that Jannik Sinner also played in Bol in 2015 at the ITF tournament that was also organized by Feliks Lukas.
SIX CROATIAN TENNIS PLAYERS WILL PLAY, TARA WÜRTH IN EXCELLENT FORM
“The wild card for the WTA Makarska Open qualifications was given to Croatian tennis player Tara Würth, the current winner of the Zagreb Open. Tara is in excellent form, so I expect her to play in the main tournament,” Lukas points out. The director, of course, is a fan of Croatian tennis players.
He does not hide that since 2015, when he received a license and thus returned the WTA to Bol and moved it to Makarska in 2022, his biggest wish has been for a Croatian representative to win. This year’s tournament will feature as many as six Croatian players. Along with Tara Würth, Ana Konjuh, Tena Lukas, Lea Bošković, Petra Martić and Petra Marčinko will play at the Tennis Center in Makarska.
“The first seed in the tournament is Japanese Moyuka Uchijima, who is in excellent form, and she recently confirmed this at the Mutua Madrid Open from the Masters 1000. There she even reached the quarterfinals, defeating the former third-ranked tennis player in the world – Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and last year’s US Open finalist and currently third-ranked tennis player in the world – American Jessica Pegula,” explains the tournament director in Makarska.
TENNIS CHANNEL TO BROADCAST TOURNAMENT, SEMI-FINALS AND FINALS ON HRT IN PRIME TIME
Millions of viewers around the world will watch the WTA Makarska Open from June 2nd to 8th on Tennis Channel, which is owned by one of the world’s largest media companies – Sinclair Broadcast Group. The semi-finals, June 7th at 6 pm, and the final, June 8th at 8 pm, will be broadcast live on Croatian Radio and Television this year as well. A real treat for tennis fans!
