Message from February 18, 2024
The eleventh tennis tournament “Burg-Wächter Ladies Open” in Altenkirchen is history. And the Russian Julia Avdeeva became part of this with her 6:4, 6:4 final victory over Alison van Uytvanck (Belgium). There is now clarity about the future of the competition, as the now expired three-year contract with the World Tennis Federation (ITF) for a $60,000 competition has been extended for a further three years.
All smiles (from left): Alison van Uytvanck, Razvan Mihai and Julia Avdeeva, who won the Open in Altenkirchen. (Photo: vh)
Altenkirchen. After the match point was turned, happy faces can be seen everywhere: with Julia Avdeeva from Russia, who won the final of the eleventh tennis tournament “Burg-Wächter Ladies Open” in Altenkirchen on Sunday afternoon (February 18th) with 4:6, Alison van Uytvanck (Belgium), who lost 4:6, who had not expected to even make it to the final, to tournament director Razvan Mihai, who was happy about an all-round successful competition and now knows that he will have three more years of tournaments with a 60,000- US dollar endowment can be set up. And last but not least, the many spectators who were treated to high-class sport over the course of the eight match days (Mihai: “Sometimes of the same level as at the Australian Open in the round of 16”). On Monday afternoon (February 12th), van Uytvanck sat shaking his head at the draw. This meant that she would meet the Danish defending champion Clara Tauson in the first round. She had actually wanted a supposedly easier draw to restart her career. Six days later, the world looked a lot rosier for them after four wins (of course also against Tauson) and one loss. After the initial thoughts, which probably revolved around losing the final, the 29-year-old was happy about what she had achieved. “My greatest success was that my body played along,” said van Uytvanck, making his first assessment of the 88 minutes he had just experienced. A persistent back injury had condemned the former 38th in the world rankings to inactivity for months. In order to get back into the swing of things, she got a wildcard from Mihai, which saved her having to go through the qualification. “I thank Razvan for that,” and almost in the same breath acknowledged Avdeeva’s success. “She was simply the stronger, the better player. She has a bombshell performance,” praised van Uytvanck, who often found herself at a losing position when it came to serving her opponent.
74 aces in five matches
Which brought up the theme of the entire week from Avdeeva’s perspective. 74 aces in total (11 in the final), some of which reached 200 km/h, and 30 double faults in five games reflected the great plus of the 1.85 meter tall model athlete. In addition, she played both her forehand and backhand with exceptional power. Only very rarely did she use balls that were hit as slices in order to get out of tricky situations in which she had come under pressure. Even online, she didn’t feel uncomfortable at times. “I love playing in Germany. “This is my second tournament victory here in this country,” she said afterwards (after Hamburg in October of last year), before praising the members of the physio team for their work. A taped right shoulder provided evidence of at least one visit to the rooms near the “German Sports Hall of Fame”. Avdeeva was also happy that “I was able to share this week with my coach Dmitry Palenov.” 75 world ranking points and prize money of 9,142 US dollars were the well-deserved reward for their performances
Clear statement for the Open
The fact that the license to host it was extended before the end of the tournament – namely on Friday, the quarter-final day – clearly speaks for the Open and Mihai’s team. The leaders of the global organization based in London had already emphasized several times that they were very satisfied with what was happening in and around the “Burg-Wächter Matchpoint”. Andrew Moss, who is responsible for the ITF’s strategy and was a guest at the Glockenspitze several times during the matches – sometimes just for one day – underlined the importance: “Such a tournament at the beginning of the year in the heart of Europe in the middle of Germany George Donnelly, who runs the ITF world tours, echoed the sentiment: “The W75 Altenkirchen tournament has been included in the tournament recognition program and recognized as one of our leading events in terms of tournament standards.”
Praise from the associations
Apart from the economic aspects that have been clarified, the sporting aspects still spoke a clear language: “Continue” was the slogan, which was certainly supported by the excellent, almost unrivaled timing of the tournament, usually in the second week of February. “The appointment is worth its weight in gold, especially for our offspring. I am very happy that the ‘Burg-Wächter Ladies Open’ has been around for a long time,” said Barbara Rittner, head national coach of the German Tennis Federation (DTB). Officials also joined in the high song of the tournament, which has already won two awards in 2018 and 2023. “The ‘Burg-Wächter Ladies Open’ is one of the largest ITF women’s tournaments in Germany and therefore an absolute highlight in the tournament calendar and in the region,” emphasized Dietloff von Arnim, DTB President, who got another impression on site on the final day : “Of course I enjoyed coming here. It’s always a great tournament. You do a huge job during the week.” And Jan Hanelt, President of the Rhineland-Palatinate Tennis Association and also among the spectators, had already given an assessment in advance: “This tournament is so unique for me because of the high quality of the sport and that “Well-being atmosphere that has been mentioned many times.” From these opinions it could be concluded that the associations are not unhappy about the continuation. Only Ulrich Klaus, President of the Rhineland Tennis Association, pointed out what he saw as a minor disadvantage: “The tournament is a very good advertisement for tennis in the region and beyond. Unfortunately, the tournament has reached a category in which no Rhineland player has a real chance of taking part.” (vh)
Sunday’s results
Singles, final: Julia Avdeeva (-) – Alison van Uytvanck (Belgium) 6:4, 6:4.
Doubles, final: Maja Chwalinska/Jesika Maleckova (Poland/Czech Republic) – Julia Lohoff/Conny Perrin (Germany/Switzerland/1) 6:4, 7:5.
Local: Altenkirchen & surroundings
Become a fan of the AK-Kurier.de local edition Altenkirchen-Flammersfeld on Facebook now!
2024-02-18 17:20:51
#Altenkirchen #womens #tennis #tournament #Avdeeva #wins #Mihai #License #extended
