Tennis in Linz: Six million dollars for the upgrade

The Upper Austria Ladies, worth $922,573, will be staged as a WTA500 event for the first time this week. Tournament founder and organizer Peter Michael Reichel made this possible with a huge investment. The Upper Austrian, who has held an important WTA position for almost 25 years, spent over six million dollars for the upgrade.

In addition, the tournament will pay out $2.2 million in 2031 due to an adjustment in prize money for the men. Linz. It is already the 33rd edition of the tennis tournament that Reichel once founded for his then aspiring daughter Sandra. Peter Michael Reichel has been an integral part of the sports scene for decades, was also long-time LASK President and sits as a European representative on the WTA Tour Board of Tournament Directors.

The 71-year-old Welser now lives in Switzerland and continues to travel around the world when it comes to tennis. As Reichel revealed, he is still not thinking about quitting. “My father is my role model. He worked until he was 96 and then suddenly fell asleep,” said Reichel, whose daughter Sandra has been tournament director in Linz for a good 25 years and also at the WTA tournament in Hamburg.

“An escape forward”

The step to upgrade the Linz tournament was vital for the event at the Design Center. “That was of course also a flight forward. A mega investment was necessary, but that means we are on the main tour. Whatever tour structures are discussed in the future, we will definitely be there at the better tournaments,” says Reichel.

The budget had to be more than doubled and the prize money increased from around $250,000 to over $900,000. “And this is now increasing every year. It will reach $2.2 million by 2031,” reveals Reichel. The reason for this is the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)’s intention to completely align the prize money for 500 and 1000 tournaments with that of men by then. Linz will already be a million-dollar tournament in 2025.

The investment for the new super license actually cost a fortune: “I had to buy out Lausanne so that we could do that, merged it with Linz and bought a third one from the WTA. So we turned three 250s into a 500s tournament .” How much did that cost? “We invested over six million dollars.” In return, this license remains in the family, as a future share, so to speak. “We’ll see – our granddaughter is now 12,” jokes Reichel.

Two top ten players in the future

Now it’s time to establish the new 500cc event. It would also be important to push the date back a little immediately after the Australian Open. “We’re not having a very easy week at the moment because the long journey from Australia to Europe indoors isn’t ideal. But we would have had the Wimbledon champion at the start, who is unfortunately injured,” explained Reichel. Now Jelena Ostapenko, currently number 12, is number one in Linz.

Reichel is aiming, similar to what is already done on the ATP tour, to be in direct competition with a second 500 tournament in the same week (Abu Dhabi from February 5th). So, like last year, to play again a week later. As is the case with men in Vienna and Basel, among others. Reichel is optimistic that there is a first precedent on the WTA tour: this year, two grass 500s will take place at the same time, Eastbourne and Bad Homburg. In any case, Reichel wants to welcome two top ten players to Linz in the future.

Reichel is hoping for additional sponsors for Linz in 2025. It is entirely possible that the tournament will then also have a new title sponsor. “Main sponsors usually pay the prize money,” says Reichel. And then Linz should develop like its counterpart in Vienna. “Absolutely. Of course it has to be at that level.”