Strong Croatian contingent for WTA Makarska Open

Feliks Lukas, Ivana Budin Arhanić, Petra Marčinko, Lucija Ćirić Bagarić, Krešimir Šamija (Photo: Bepo Novaković)

With less than twenty days until the Makarska Open hosted by Valamar, tournament director Feliks Lukas introduced the list of players who will compete from June 3rd to 9th in the city under Biokovo mountain at the Business Club 5 in Zagreb.

The tournament’s top seed is the young American star Emma Navarro, currently ranked 22nd in the world, with Dutch player Arantxa Rus, French player Diane Parry, and seven other players from the top 100 also in attendance.

“Last year, the final featured two players from the top 50, Mayar Sherif, the best Egyptian player of all time, and Italian Jasmine Paolini, who recently won the Dubai Masters and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. 

We had Czech player Linda Noskova, who defeated Iga Świątek, the world’s top player of the last year, in our tournament last year. Slovak player Anna Karolína Schmiedlová has been participating in our tournament for eight years now. 

All of this speaks to the continuous quality of tennis played in Makarska. This tournament means a lot as a stepping stone for young players like Tara Würth, who achieved her first notable result here and later reached the top 200,” highlighted the tournament director, who expects the highest number of Croatian female players in Makarska this year.

Six Croatian representatives are currently on the list – Jana Fett, Antonia Ružić, Lea Bošković, while Lucija Ćirić Bagarić, Petra Marčinko, and Tena Lukas received wildcards. 

Still in contention for qualifications are national under-16 champion Marta Perić and local player Mariana Dražić from Makarska. 

Director Lukas’s goal is to break the record and have the highest number of Croatian representatives at the tournament.

“This year, I’m in really good form, playing very well, and achieving quite good results. It means a lot to me to have the opportunity to play again in Makarska in front of my home crowd,” said Croatian player Tena Lukas.

Her young colleague Lucija Ćirić Bagarić stated that she believes she can achieve a good result in Makarska. This is her first appearance in the city, and she has heard that the tournament and organization are top-notch, so she’s eagerly looking forward to playing in the Tennis Center just a few meters from the sea.

Lucija Ćirić Bagarić (Photo: Bepo Novaković)

Petra Marčinko is returning to the tournament after an injury. She emphasized that last year in Makarska was great and that she hopes for a better result this year.

For all tennis enthusiasts, the first-ever live broadcast from the central court has been announced from the first round onwards on Sportklub, while the final, traditionally played on Sunday, June 9th, at 8 p.m. under the floodlights, will be broadcast on HTV.

Petra Marčinko (Photo: Bepo Novaković)

The Most Beautiful Promotion of Makarska and Croatia

“This tournament is one of the 25 major sports events that we are financing this year through a Public Call, and beyond that, we finance a series of other sports events. We have allocated €13 million just for major sports events this year, and we have been a partner of the WTA tournament in Makarska for five years. 

We can look at this from the perspective of sports, tourism, but also their interaction. From a sports perspective, this is an additional opportunity for young athletes to advance their careers, to reach a higher level. The tournament is important for promoting Croatia as a sports nation. Croatia is one of the top five or six countries in the world in terms of the number of medals per capita, and in a way, we are a global phenomenon,” said Krešimir Šamija, director of the Sports Administration at the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Ivana Budin Arhanić, a member of the Valamar Management Board, highlighted that this largest tourist company has been a proud partner of the WTA Makarska Open for three years, which is the most important event in women’s tennis and one of the more significant sports events in Croatia.

(Photo: Bepo Novaković)

“We are particularly pleased that the Dalmacija Places Hotel by Valamar is the official host of the tournament and that with events like this, we contribute to a stronger positioning of Makarska as a leading destination with top-notch facilities and service quality. 

We will continue to advocate for resort tourism, which is good for destinations, guests, and the local population. I’m also glad that all proceeds from ticket sales of this year’s WTA Makarska Open will be donated to the Parasports Association of the Split-Dalmatia County, which gathers athletes with disabilities,” said Ivana Budin Arhanić.