May the 15th, 2024 – We’re edging closer and closer to the popular WTA Makarska Open, and as many as 8 Croatian tennis players could be playing at this year’s edition.
The director of the most popular tennis tournament in this part of Europe is wishing for a record number of Croatian female tennis players this year. Ten tennis players from the top 100 will play at the upcoming WTA Makarska Open, among which is American player Emma Navarro.
We’re now less than twenty days away from the WTA Makarska Open hosted by Valamar. Tournament director Feliks Lukas presented the list of female tennis players who will play in the city under Biokovo from June the 3rd to the 9th at Business Club 5 in Zagreb recently.
The first holder of the tournament is the young American tennis star Emma Navarro. She’s currently the 22nd player in the entire world. There’s also Dutch player Arantxa Rus, French player Diane Parry and seven other tennis players from the top 100, who are also among the top 50.
“Last year, two tennis players from the top 50 appeared in the WTA Makarska Open final. They were Mayar Sherif, the best Egyptian player of all time, and Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, who recently won the Masters in Dubai and played the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Last year, we also had Czech player Linda Noskova who beat Iga Świątek, the best tennis player in the world for the last year, and Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová. Anna has been participating in the tournament for eight years now. All of the above speaks volumes about the continuous quality of the tennis played as part of the WTA Makarska Open. This tournament also means a lot as a springboard for young tennis players like Tara Würth, who achieved her first notable result and later reached the threshold of the top 200”, said the director of the tournament, who expects the largest number of Croatian tennis players so far in Makarska this year.
For now, there are six Croatian representatives on the list – Jana Fett, Antonia Ružić, Lea Bošković, Lucija Ćirić Bagarić, Petra Marčinko and Tena Lukas. There’s also the national under-16’s champion Marta Perić, and Makarska native Mariana Dražić. Both of whom are still in the running for qualification. Director Feliks Lukas’ goal is to break the record and have the largest number of Croatian women’s representatives at the tournament in 2024.
“This year, I’m in extremely good shape, I’ve been playing very well and I’ve got some quite good results. It means a lot to me that I have the opportunity to play in Makarska again in front of the home crowd,” said Croatian tennis player Tena Lukas.
Her young colleague Lucija Ćirić Bagarić said that she believes she can achieve a good result in this year’s WTA Makarska Open. This is otherwise going to be her first performance in this Dalmatian city, and she says that she heard that the tournament and the organisation are at the top level. Owing to that, she said that she can’t wait to play in the Tennis Centre just a few meters from the glorious Adriatic Sea.
Petra Marčinko is returning to the tournament after an injury. She pointed out that it was great last year in Makarska and that she hopes for a better result this year.
For all tennis fans, for the first time in the history of the WTA Makarska Open tournament, a direct broadcast from the central court has been announced from the first round on Sportklub. In addition, HTV will broadcast the final, which will be played on Sunday, June the 9th at 20:00, under the spotlight.
the wta makarska open is the best promotion of makarska and croatia as a whole
“This tournament is one of the 25 large sports events that we’re financing this year through a Public Call. We’re also financing a number of other sporting events. This year alone, we allocated 13 million euros for major sports events, and we’ve been a partner of the WTA Makarska Open for five years now. We can look at this from the perspective of sport, tourism, and from the perspective of their interaction. From the perspective of sport, this is an additional opportunity for young athletes to advance their careers and reach a higher level. The tournament is also important for the promotion of Croatia as a sporting nation. Croatia is one of the first five or six countries in the world in terms of the number of medals per capita, and in this way, we’re a wonder of the world,” said Krešimir Šamija, director of the Sports Directorate at the Ministry of Tourism and Sport.
Ivana Budin Arhanić, a member of the Valamar Management Board, pointed out that Croatia’s largest tourism company has been a proud partner of the WTA Makarska Open for three years now. It’s significant as it is the most important event in women’s tennis and one of the most important sporting events held in Croatia.
“We’re particularly pleased that Dalmacija Places Hotel by Valamar is going to be the official host of the tournament. We also love that events like this contribute to the stronger positioning of Makarska as a leading destination with top-quality content and service quality. We’re going to continue to advocate for tourism that is good for destinations, guests and local residents alike. I’m also glad that all the revenue from the tickets for this year’s WTA Makarska Open will be donated to the Parasports Association of Split-Dalmatia County, which is an umbrella organisation for athletes with disabilities,” said Ivana Budin Arhanić.
