The victory of the Egyptian tennis player and the performance of the world-famous pianist Lola Astanova on the central court of the Tennis Center are the highlight of the tennis week in Makarska.
The best Egyptian tennis player and the third seed of the tournament WTA Makarska Open hosted by Valamar Mayar Sherif celebrated against the second seed of the Italian Jasmine Paolini after almost three hours of a great match and great drama, with a score of 2:6, 7:6, 7:5.
This was definitely the best match of the tournament in Makarska, Paolina Sherif was a worthy opponent and held on until the very end, and for a moment it seemed that the Italian could win. However, in a match full of excitement, Sherif was calmer and better in the decisive moments, and deservedly won the title.
Jasmine Paolini won in 2021 at this tournament, which was held in Bol for the last time that year, and this is already the second Makarska edition.
Special envoy of the Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac awarded the cup to the winner Sherif, and Makarska Mayor Zoran Paunović to Paolina.
"Thank you to everyone who supported the tournament, thank you to the audience that cheered on our female tennis players for a week, thank you to the volunteers and the entire WTA Makarska Open team, this was a week of celebrating women's sports and tennis in which we cheered, enjoyed, but also had a lot of fun. The city of Makarska is an excellent host, the reactions of the tennis players are extremely positive, they will happily return to our tournament. See you next year. Only the sky is our limit," said tournament director Feliks Lukas.
Makarska is a desirable tourist and sports destination
The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Nikolina Brnjac, congratulated the winner, as well as all the tennis players we had the opportunity to watch this week in Makarska.
"I also congratulate the organizers on another excellent WTA tournament, which once again confirmed that Croatia is a great host of major sporting events. The government of the Republic of Croatia regularly supports major sports events, and since 2017, almost 25 million euros have been allocated for more than 100 major competitions that were held in Croatia, and this year alone, more than 6 million euros have been allocated for this purpose so far," she pointed out. is the Minister of Tourism and Sports.
"Although hotels traditionally open the season already at Easter, the WTA Makarska Open is the forte, a globally recognized event, a significant step forward thanks to which we offer tourists interesting contents and experiences outside the main tourist season. We are building Makarska to be equally desirable as a tourist and sports destination and in parallel we are working on Makarska's candidacy for the European City of Sports in 2024, for which we have all the predispositions," said Makarska Mayor Zoran Paunović.
The Sherif victory is the highlight of the tennis week in Makarska, in which, in addition to a performance after the final match, the world-famous pianist Lola Astanova recorded a video on the Skywalk in Bikow, and the prestigious international media brand Sport Illustrated premiered a global series of events inspired by sports Illustrated Center Court tennis. The WTA tournament team led by director Lukas once again did a good job not only for women's sports but also for the promotion of beautiful Makarska. The bar has been raised high, expectations for next year are even higher.
Makarska, June 11, 2023.
Photo by Kevin Clement
