{"id":1034,"date":"2025-06-02T07:45:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T06:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wta-makarska-open-opens-with-draw-lukas-has-a-tough-task-playing-against-last-years-winner-volynets\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T07:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T06:57:12","slug":"wta-makarska-open-opens-with-draw-lukas-has-a-tough-task-playing-against-last-years-winner-volynets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wta-makarska-open-opens-with-draw-lukas-has-a-tough-task-playing-against-last-years-winner-volynets\/","title":{"rendered":"WTA Makarska Open opens with draw: Lukas has a tough task, playing against last year&#8217;s winner Volynets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sunny day and great atmosphere ahead of the first round and the start of the tournament that everyone is praising. The great Jasmine Paolini came in via video link, Australian Joint says this is her favorite tournament, Volynets also praises it, Sherif also likes to come to Makarska.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No fewer than five tennis players drew the draw for the WTA Makarska Open hosted by Valamar tournament on the main stage of the Tennis Center in Makarska. In addition to last year&#8217;s winner, American Katie Volynets, the 2023 winner, Egyptian Mayar Sherif, and Australian Maya Joint, there were also two Croatian representatives &#8211; Ana Konjuh and Petra Mar\u010dinko.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jasmine Paolini, currently the fourth tennis player in the world, the highest-ranked Italian in the history of Italian tennis, did not miss to greet sunny Makarska, even if only via video call. . Last year&#8217;s finalist at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, she began her meteoric rise with a victory in 2021 at this very WTA tournament, which was last held in Bol that year, and has been played in Makarska since 2022.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"753\" src=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-753\" srcset=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-3-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-3.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"751\" src=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-4-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-751\" srcset=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-4-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-4-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-4.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"754\" src=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-5-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-754\" srcset=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-5-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-5-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-5.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-6-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-6-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-6-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-6-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-6-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/10-6.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">THE NUMBER ONE TOURNAMENT!<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jasmine Paolini lost in the final in Makarska two years ago to Mayar Sherif, last year&#8217;s finalist who is happy to return to this city.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;m happy to be here again. This is one of my favorite tournaments. The atmosphere is extremely friendly, I don&#8217;t know if I like it better on the court or in the hotel. I hope to play in the final again,&#8221; said the Egyptian.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is definitely Maya Joint&#8217;s favorite tournament.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201eLani sam ga nominir&#8221;Last year I nominated it for number one. ala za broj jedan. It&#8217;s beautiful here &#8211; the hotel is great, the people are wonderful, it&#8217;s incredible. I can&#8217;t wait to play and come back next year,&#8221; said the Australian tennis player.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Croatian representatives Petra Mar\u010dinko and Ana Konjuh also love playing in this tournament. Petra is here for the third time, and Ana pointed out that this is one of her favorite tournaments and that she hopes to do better than last year when health problems prevented her from doing so.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OPPONENTS OF CROATIAN TENNIS PLAYERS IN THE FIRST ROUND<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the first round, Konjuh plays against Joint, Marti\u0107 awaits the winner of the qualifiers, Mar\u010dinko will play against Romanian Bulgaru, Lea Bo\u0161kovi\u0107 against Serbian tennis player Lola Radivojevi\u0107, and the toughest task will be for Tena Lukas, who was drawn against last year&#8217;s winner Volynets.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I am glad to be here again, I am determined that this tournament will be declared the best tournament in the 125 series this year. We enjoy playing between the Adriatic Sea and the cliffs of the mountain, it is truly beautiful. . Last year I had a great time, the audience was great and it is nice to play in front of so many tennis fans. I am looking forward to the last tournament on clay before I move to grass,&#8221; said Volynets.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NEXT YEAR, A BIG ANNIVERSARY<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We want tennis players in Makarska to feel at home, in a relaxed atmosphere and without stress. I believe that the perfect location and good weather will help a lot with that. This is the 19th edition of the WTA tournament in Croatia, next year we are celebrating a big 20 years, ten of which were organized by Lukas Sports, and we are already inviting you to a big celebration,&#8221; said Feliks Lukas, tournament director.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1ST ROUND PAIRS<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joint (Aus) \u2013 Konjuh, Zidan\u0161ek (Slo) \u2013 Chirico (SAD), Niemeier (Njem) \u2013 Semenistaja (Lat), Sherif (Egi) \u2013 Tig (Rum), Korpatsch (Njem) \u2013 Pridankina, Bejlek (\u010ceh) \u2013 Romero Gormaz (\u0160pa), Kvalifikantica \u2013 Marti\u0107 (Hrv), Seidel (Njem) \u2013 Jimenez Kasintseva (And), Makarova \u2013 Vandewinkel (Bel), Mar\u010dinko \u2013 Bulgaru (Rum), kvalifikantica \u2013 Zarazua (Mex), Parry (Fra) \u2013 Davis (SAD), Bo\u0161kovi\u0107 \u2013 Radivojevi\u0107 (Srb), Erjavec (Slo) \u2013 Barthel (Njem), Lukas \u2013 Volynets (SAD).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sunny day and great atmosphere ahead of the first round and the start of the tournament that everyone is praising. The great Jasmine Paolini came in via video link, Australian Joint says this is her favorite tournament, Volynets also praises it, Sherif also likes to come to Makarska. No fewer than five tennis players drew [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1035,"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions\/1035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makarskaopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}