World’s best WTA 125 category tennis tournament in Makarska announced

(Photo credit: Tomislav Smoljanović)

ZAGREB, 24 May 2022 – Kristina Mladenović, Arantxa Rus, Clara Burel, Anna Bondar, Aleksandra Krunić, Bernarda Pera and Croatia’s Antonija Ružić and Tena Lukas, who won the ITF tournament in Rome a few days ago, will play on the tennis courts in Makarska from 30 May-5 June.

“Marta Kostyuk, a Ukrainian young star led by our celebrated ace Ivan Ljubicic, Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz, one of the best countrymen, will also play,” Felix Lukas, director of the WTA Makarska Open tournament, pointed out at the press conference in Zagreb.

He added that Martina Trevisan and Lucia Bronzetti are coming from Italy, and the Italian and world tennis star Sara Errani is on the waiting list.

Two of Slovakia’s best players, Kristina Kucova and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, and the best Swedish tennis player Rebecca Peterson are also coming. Besides them, he also mentioned Mayar Sherif, the best tennis player from Egypt and the best ranked Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, the finalist of the doubles at this year’s Australian Open.

(Photo credit: Tomislav Smoljanović)

Mirjana Lučić Baroni made a video call from Florida and congratulated the organisers on bringing the tournament to her hometown.

Filming of a documentary

That the tournament is becoming more and more popular in the world is confirmed by the fact that the production company Noah Media Group is coming to Makarska, whose sports documentary was shown on Netflix.  Footage from tennis courts and from”backstage” of the WTA Makarska Open will be in their new documentary.

WTACity will host music performers during the week from the Big Band and Zdenka Kovačiček, Black Coffee, Mjesni odbor, Neno Belan, Cambi and klapa Šufit, also exhibitions, and entertainment for the kids.

“From May 30th to June 5th, Makarska will become a centre of entertainment and sports on the Adriatic. I invite all fans of sports and good fun to enjoy with us the first WTA Makarska Open and WTACity, which will introduce Makarska to the summer season in a new and exciting way. I must say that we are extremely proud that we managed to bring such a prestigious tournament to Makarska, as well as the cooperation between the City, WTA and Valamar, which proved to be an excellent partner to the community. Such quality cooperation is the first step in creating a new direction of sustainable development of Makarska tourism,” said Antonia Radić Brkan, Deputy Mayor of Makarska.

(Photo credit: Tomislav Smoljanović)

Promotion of Croatian tourism

Josip Pavić, special adviser to the Minister of Tourism and Sports, pointed out that the WTA tournament is a phenomenal combination of tourism and sports.

“We have been cooperating for years because the WTA tournament is recognised as an event that promotes Croatian tourism and we believe that the cooperation between the sports brand and Makarska will help position the city as a destination. This year, the Ministry is allocating the largest amount so far for sports that it normally supports,” Pavic said.

The director of the Split-Dalmatia County Tourist Board, Joško Stella, is extremely satisfied with the long-term cooperation with the organisers of the WTA tournament, which is constantly being upgraded, so this year the WTA tournament in Makarska will be visited by twenty Croatian and foreign influencers.

Antonia Ružić, Feliks Lukas and Tena Lukas (Photo credit: Tomislav Smoljanović)

“We are extremely pleased with the partnership with the WTA Makarska Open tennis tournament, and the completely renovated Dalmatia [PLACESHOTEL] by Valamar is ready to welcome participants and guests of the tournament. The announced names of tennis players, sports schedule, accompanying events as well as the newly renovated Tennis Center in Makarska will certainly contribute to the successful promotion and further development of the destination with its attractiveness, said Alen Benković, Senior Vice President for Development, Property Maintenance and Technical Services at Valamar Riviera and President of the Management Board of Imperial Riviera.

Tennis Plays for Peace

Tickets for the officially best organised WTA tournament in the last five years can be purchased through the Croatia Tickets system. All proceeds are of a humanitarian nature, as the WTA Makarska Open hosted by Valamar has joined the Tennis Plays for Peace initiative for war-torn Ukraine.