The Alpstar Austria Billie Jean King Cup Team in Delray Beach entered the qualifying round for the Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals as a blatant underdog. And at least in the first individual match, the USA fully lived up to their role as favorites. Because Julia Grabher clearly lost the opening game in the Delray Beach Tennis Center on Friday (local time) in two sets. The woman from Vorarlberg (WTA 78) was only able to challenge US young star Coco Gauff (WTA 6) in phases and ultimately had to admit defeat 1: 6, 3: 6 in 63 minutes of play. Sinja Kraus then tries to be second to a sensation: The Viennese (WTA 153) challenges the current world number three Jessica Pegula in the fight for the 1-1 equalizer.
Grabher “fully involved” following a weak start
The first day of the game in the US state of Florida started with a delay: Due to a thunderstorm warning, the teams and spectators were asked to leave center court and seek shelter following the official performance. Almost 45 minutes later, the national anthems might be played and Grabher and Gauff entered their first duel. Austria’s current number one didn’t get off to a good start, following eight minutes it was 2:12 in points and 0:3 in games. The Dornbirner caught herself, however, recorded many nice point wins and even had two break chances at 1:3, but might not use either of them due to return errors. This was followed by the double break to 1: 5, following a 0:30 deficit, Gauff, who lives in Delray Beach and thus enjoys double home advantage, still served her 1: 0 set lead.
In the second round, Grabher kept up well from the start. Although she had to give up her serve with a double fault to make it 1:2, she fought for the rebreak with a few strong points. But she mightn’t make up for another loss of service to make it 2:3. On the contrary: In the end, the double break resulted in the loss of the match. “Of course I’m disappointed that we’re 1-0 down,” said Grabher. “I started nervously and didn’t get into the match well. She was very aggressive from the start, I found it difficult to get into the game. But then I really had the feeling that it got better with every game. The games were already hard fought in the first set. 1:6 sounds pretty clear then, and I don’t think it was that clear at all.”
“I still enjoyed it”
In the second set, too, Grabher “had actually had a lot of chances – even at 1-0 on her serve”, where she didn’t have a chance to break, but would have been much more inside. “You have to use that once morest such a top player, you don’t get that many chances. And unfortunately I didn’t use the ones I got as much as I had imagined,” she lamented. “I think I was actually fully involved, but unfortunately the important points went your way.” Nevertheless, Grabher, who is currently among the top 80 in the world for the first time, also found something positive: “I still enjoyed it. It was an incredible vibe and atmosphere to play tennis. It’s really fun here and I hope Sinja will do better now and I’ll have another chance tomorrow.”
2023 Billie Jean King Cup in Delray Beach Qualifying Round:
USA – Austria 1-0
Coco Gauff – Julia Grabher 6:1, 6:3
Jessica Pegula – Sinja Kraus
Jessica Pegula – Julia Grabher
Coco Gauff – Sinja Kraus
Danielle Rose Collins / Caty McNally – Sinja Kraus / Melanie Klaffner
The program at the Billie Jean King Cup USA – Austria
Friday, 24:00 CEST: Start of matchday 1 (live on www.oetv.tv)
Saturday, 20:00 CEST: Start of 2nd matchday (live on www.oetv.tv)