Alison Riske is the fourth American to win the WTA tournament "Upper Austria Ladies Linz" - after Chanda Rubin (1997), Lindsay Davenport (2000, 2001) and Coco Gauff (2019). In a high-class, dramatic final on Friday evening in front of almost 2000 spectators in the TipsArena, Alison Riske defeated the Romanian Jaqueline Cristian after a playing time of 2:24 hours with 2: 6, 6: 2 and 7: 5. The 31-year-old winner received $ 25,000 in prize money and the 23-year-old finalist received $ 14,000.

Neither Alison Riske, number 73 in the WTA ranking, nor Jaqueline Cristian (no. 100) would have dared to dream of reaching for the trophy at the WTA tournament "Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2021" at the beginning of the tournament. But luck was on both of them: The American benefited in the semifinals from the injury-related abandonment of her compatriot Danielle Collins. The Romanian, on the other hand, had initially failed in the qualification to Lesia Tsurenko (UKR), came into the main field as a "lucky loser" due to the cancellation of her compatriot Sorana Cirstea and should have played in the semifinals against Simona Halep (also Romanian). But the 30-year-old had to cancel due to knee problems. So 23-year-old Jaqueline Cristian was facing the “match of her life.” And if she won the final, her trainer Thomas Drouet had promised her an exclusive Louis Vuitton bag as a special gift. Maybe it will work next time !?

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The well-known Poxrucker Sisters took care of the musical preparation for the surprise final between Jaqueline Cristian and Alison Riske, and numerous guests of honor were seated in the stands - at the top, Governor Thomas Stelzer, Linz Vice Mayor Karin Hörzing and numerous mayors from Upper Austria , the tournament director Sandra Reichel had invited to the final. They were all just as enthusiastic about the final as the fans, who gave the two players a “standing ovation” after the match point.

Cristian captured the hearts of the fans

Alison Riske only gave up her final trauma at the last moment of this memorable match - the US-American has been in a WTA final ten times and lost eight times. The triumph in Linz in their eleventh final was also their third title on the WTA tour. “Above all, I want to thank the audience, you were so great! It's almost sold out and that's something we haven't had in almost two years. The tournament is really first class! I hope to play here again soon. I am so grateful, "said the beaming winner. And Jaqueline Cristian said: “I am very happy that we were able to share this moment. There are so many emotions in me right now. The audience was terrific, and they had been for the whole week. I hope to see you again next year. I thank my coach and everyone who organized this great tournament. "

A role model for Upper Austria. “This tournament is a role model for what we need in Upper Austria. Especially this year a big thank you to the tournament director Sandra Reichel and her team as well as to the players for offering us this tournament, ”said Governor Thomas Stelzer. “We saw great tennis this week, a big thank you to all partners and sponsors who made this tournament possible. Congratulations to the players ”, said Vice Mayor Karin Hörzing before the award ceremony.

Here is the single draw from Linz