Clara Tauson and the doubles Greet Minnen/Yanina Wickmayer are the tournament winners of the "10th BURG-WÄCHTER Ladies Open". The 20-year-old Dane and the Belgian pairing won the finals at the end of the anniversary event in Altenkirchen on Sunday.
When Greet Minnen stood next to winner Tauson at the singles award ceremony of the women's tennis world ranking tournament "BURG-WÄCHTER Ladies Open" in Altenkirchen (Westerwaldkreis), which is endowed with 60,000 US dollars, on Sunday afternoon, she could no longer hide her tears. The 25-year-old would have liked to defend her last year's title, but lost early on in the third and decisive set, also due to thigh problems. The second air brought her back to 2:5 plus a break point for a possible 3:5, but Tauson stopped the chase and won 7:6, 4:6 and 6:2.
"It's a great feeling to stand here again at the award ceremony with the trophy, and of course it was a great match," Tauson looked back. In 2021 she had already triumphed at the "Ladies Open", now the Dane is the first double winner in the Westerwald. This will move her further up the world rankings. Her top ranking dates back to the spring of 2023 with 33rd place.
Tennis fans experience a fascinating final
The highly entertained spectators in the packed stands at the SRS Sportpark witnessed high-class and exciting sport. For the third time in ten years, the Altenkirchen final went into the third set. With a duration of 2:46 hours, it was also by far the longest. "Greet and I know each other very well, so we know how we play," Tauson said, explaining why the match was extremely even for two sets. "It was a fascinating final and a worthy conclusion to the tenth edition of the tournament. It was a lot of fun to watch world class tennis at the BURG-WÄCHTER Ladies Open over a week ", said Christopher Lüling, Finance Director of title sponsor BURG-WÄCHTER.
After singles defeat Greet Minnen wins doubles match
Greet Minnen dried her own tears by winning the doubles final two hours after the singles match. "It was a tough day. I'm glad it ended the way it did for me. I love playing here in Altenkirchen. The complete organization is great," Minnen said at the end. "We had a lot of fun together," described her experienced doubles partner Yanina Wickmayer.
"It's great that Greet came back like that after the singles and gave it her all." Minnen and Wickmayer were seeded first in Altenkirchen and fulfilled their role as favorites. They won the final 6-1 and 6-3 against the British combination of Freya Christie/Ali Collins. Both were in a hurry after the award ceremony, as their journey continued on Sunday evening towards Mexico, where they will play their next tournament.
BURG-WÄCHTER Ladies Open as "navel of the tennis world
In Altenkirchen, the long final day began early in the morning with the "First service" of host SRS and the subsequent reception of the Rhineland-Palatinate Tennis Association. Numerous guests of honor from sports and politics congratulated tournament director Razvan Mihai on the anniversary of the tournament and his 56th birthday. Ulrich Klaus, President of the Rhineland Tennis Association, described Altenkirchen as the "navel of the tennis world" on this day. "The BURG-WÄCHTER Ladies Open deserve great respect. Such tournaments do a great job for tennis Germany," emphasized Dietloff von Arnim, President of the German Tennis Federation.
High praise from national and international federations
The Altenkirchen tournament also received top marks from the highest international tennis levels. "This $60,000 tournament is fundamental for the ITF. It features world-class level players who are on their way to the major WTA tournaments. The coming together of Razvan Mihai and SRS is a major contributor to the success of the tournament," said Andrew Moss, who travels from London and is responsible for the ITF Tour at the world federation. How Moss assesses the "BURG-WÄCHTER Ladies Open"? "I'm looking forward to 2024!"
