June the 10th, 2024 – Fantastic news for Katie Volynets as the talented tennis player wins the WTA Makarska Open 2024.
American tennis player Katie Volynets’ victory marked the end of the popular WTA Makarska Open hosted by Valamar. She beat last year’s winner of the tournament, Egyptian Mayar Sherif, in an excellent final.
Feliks Lukas has been organising the tournament for eight years now, with this being the third to be held in Makarska. It is being hailed as the most impressive so far in the organisational sense, and some truly excellent female tennis players took part this year. Among them were as many as seven Croatian representatives, which is a record number of Croatian female tennis players. Of them, the talented Petra Martić went the farthest, she lost in the semifinals to Egypt’s Sherif, who was considered one of the favourites from the very beginning.
katie volynets celebrates in the city under biokovo
The Egyptian player entered the final match very well and for a moment it seemed that Katie Volynets didn’t have much of a chance. The Egyptian won the first set with a score of 6:3. But the American returned to the game at the beginning of the second set and perfectly matched Sherif, who is currently the 53rd player in the world. Volynets won the second set with a score of 6:2 and continued excellently in the third set. Mayar didn’t manage to come back from that, seeing Katie win the third set with 6:1 and celebrating in Makarska.
“Thank you to everyone who came and watched this match. I’m very grateful for the energy you brought. It’s wonderful here. Congratulations to Mayar on a great week. This was my first WTA final and playing against her was an exceptional experience. I’d like to thank the tournament director Feliks Lukas, the judges, the ball collectors and everyone in the organisation who are responsible for the realisation of the WTA Makarska Open. Thank you for organising the tournament in such a wonderful location by the sea. When I arrived in Makarska it was already dark and I didn’t see what kind of view I had from my room, but when I saw the sea in the morning I wanted to stay here as long as possible and I’m grateful that it happened. Thank you to my coach Alejandro Dulko and to my family who support me every day”, Volynets said when presented with her trophy by state secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, Tomislav Družak.
Mayar Sherif also played a great streak
“We haven’t stopped for ten weeks and I’m very happy to have finished my season here in Makarska. I was here last year as well and I have some great memories. You were incredible, the beaches are wonderful, the city is irresistible, so I plan to come back next year as well”, said Sherif after Makarska Mayor Zoran Paunović awarded her the trophy for second place.
wta makarska open organiser feliks lukas couldn’t have been more proud
“I’d like to thank these superb tennis players. I think this final was much better than the one in Paris at Roland Garros. Thank you for allowing us to watch great tennis in Makarska. According to Jasmine Paolina, whoever plays the final in Makarska will play the final in Paris. If you win, come here to celebrate, Makarska is waiting for you. Thank you for a great week and thank you to the audience who came to the final. You’re the best audience in the whole world. Thanks to my team, without them the tournament wouldn’t have been this successful. Thank you to the sponsors and partners who supported us when it was most important. We’ll be even better in the years to come,” said Lukas.
