Watch: Linz Open 2024 hosts unique draw ceremony in a warehouse featuring Anastasia Potapova on a forklift
The Australian Open 2024 has come to a close, and top women's tennis stars are back on the WTA Tour, with the Linz Open being the first tournament after the year's first Grand Slam.
The 2024 Linz Open will be held from January 29 to February 4 at TipsArena, an indoor sports venue in northern Austria. World No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko and World No. 21 Ekaterina Alexandrova are the top two seeds at the Linz Open, which has been upgraded from a 250-level tournament to a 500-level tournament this year.
The main draw ceremony was held on January 28 and had a unique twist to the typical ceremony practice. The event was held at a warehouse and featured a forklift. Anastasia Potapova, the defending champion, and Camila Giorgi were special guests at the ceremony, with the former using the forklift to place a player placard on the drawboard.
You can watch the video below:
The out-of-box draw ceremony impressed Potapova and Giorgi, who praised the event as artistic and unique.
"I think it's more artistic. So, it's more beautiful than usual so I enjoyed a lot. It's beautiful. It's different," said Camila Giorgi.
"It's very unique. I think nobody has done it before, and I'm happy to participate in such a thing," Anastasia Potapova said.
Anastasia Potapova defeated Petra Martic to win her maiden WTA Tour title at the 2023 Linz Open. In doubles, Natela Dzalamidze and Viktoria Hrunkacova defeated Anna-Lena Friedsam and Nadiia Kichenok in the final.
Jelena Ostapenko and Angelique Kerber headline Linz Open 2024
Being held just after the Australian Open, the 2024 Linz Open does not have any top 10 ranked players in the main draw. World No. 8 and Wimbledon Champion Marketa Vondrousova had initially signed up to play in Linz but withdrew before the main draw.
However, the tournament is not short of star players, with the likes of Jelena Ostapenko, Angelique Kerber, and Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska headlining the singles' main draw. Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez are the top seed in the doubles draw.
Ostapenko has received a first-round bye and could face Camila Giorgi in the second round. Kerber, who was awarded a wildcard, will face Lucia Bronzetti in the opening round. Yastremska, another wildcard, will kick off her Linz campaign against a qualifier or a lucky loser.
The winner will be awarded 500 ranking points and $142,000 in prize money. The total prize pool for the tournament is $922,573.