In 2002 in Charlotte and in 2004 at the foot of the Bergisel ski jump in Innsbruck, Austria’s women’s national team sensationally won the last two duels with the USA. 19 years later, a third sensational victory in a row was much less to be expected this time – and ultimately remained out of reach: Despite courageous performances, the Alpstar Austria Billie Jean King Cup Team, as a blatant underdog, was able to dominate the US in the qualifying round for the Billie Jean Unstoppable King Cup by Gainbridge Finals. The selection of ÖTV Billie Jean King Cup captain and sports coordinator Marion Maruska in Delray Beach was, as was to be feared, already 3-0 behind after the third individual. With the 3-2 win against Latvia in November in the play-off in Schwechat, they earned their place in the qualifying round with bravura, and now they can play again in the autumn (10/11 or 11/12 November). -off to play for a place in the Finals Tournament Qualifier. The draw for this is expected to take place in early May.
The hostesses had apparently taken the ÖTV ladies extremely seriously and, with Jessica Pegula (WTA 3) and Coco Gauff (WTA 6), for the first time since 2005, they competed in the national competition with two players among the top six in the world. On Friday, Austria’s number one, Julia Grabher (WTA 78), clearly lost 1: 6, 3: 6 against US youngster Gauff in the Delray Beach Tennis Center, Sinja Kraus (WTA 153) against Pegula with 0: 6 , 5:7 – despite good resistance, especially in the second set. On Saturday, the picture was initially very similar: Grabher kept up excellently in the one-man duel with Pegula, especially in the second round, but the renewed 1:6, 3:6 sealed the defeat of the red-white-red national team. At the end of the international match, a doubles match followed in the US state of Florida, which Kraus and Melanie played for Austria as planned. The Viennese and the Upper Austrian lost 1: 6, 4: 6 against the US women – where instead of Danielle Rose Collins, as in the individual, Gauff came in, alongside Caty McNally.
“Mega disappointed” Grabher practices self-criticism
The ÖTV ladies had received multiple praise from the extremely knowledgeable TV commentators of the Tennis Channel for their courageous and risk-taking performances – according to the motto “We have nothing to lose”. Grabher’s second individual game was no exception here either. The woman from Vorarlberg was just as courageous as the day before and got off to an extremely good start this time. At 1: 1 and 0:30 she knocked on the first break, instead Pegula countered with seven points in a row, breaks to 3: 1 and 5: 1 and won the first set after only 22 minutes of play. This time, too, Grabher put up a much better resistance in the second round, kept up for a long time and even sniffed the 4:4 equalizer at 3:4 and 0:30 as a setback. But again her opponent countered with a series of eight points this time, to which Grabher contributed a lot with three double errors at the beginning of her extremely botched, last service game. After a total of 55 minutes everything was over and decided and the dream of the sensation was shattered.
“Of course I’m super disappointed that I couldn’t help our team and I didn’t manage that we were allowed to play at least one more individual game,” said Grabher, very sad and self-critical. “Unfortunately, I certainly didn’t put in my best performance on the pitch today, it’s difficult against such a top player. Especially since she’s also a player that I probably don’t really like: She takes the ball very early, plays with a lot of length, and then I don’t really have time to play my game, to build up the points via my forehand – that works against her hardly at all. I still played a few good rallies and actually got my chances, but like yesterday I didn’t take advantage of them. Then you don’t have much say against such a top player. I still believe that I can take something away from the last few games, having played twice against top ten players. In terms of rallies, I was actually there – although I didn’t do my best yesterday or today – and I have my chances got.”
Maruska: “Julia tried everything again today”
Maruska also had to acknowledge the superiority of the Americans on the bench without envy, but she couldn’t blame her girls: “Today Julia tried everything again, Pegula was simply better. She serves very, very well – not as spicy as Gauff, but very well placed. Julia often attacked the second serves well and scored a few points.” However, the light wind also led to a few forehand errors by Grabher, “but the biggest difference was the service.” Of course, Maruska hadn’t expected another sensation like in 2002 and 2004 – ” you can’t compare it to the other times, because back then we weren’t as far apart in the rankings as this time, where the US women had two top ten players and home advantage.” Grabher and Kraus “both have a lot sold well,” said the Lower Austrian. “They saw yesterday and today that they can play alongside top ten players – even though they’ve never played against one before. You also notice what is still missing. Both have certainly taken a lot of experience with them and can also build on it.”
In the fall, Maruska was hoping for a good draw: “We will definitely do everything we can to reach the qualifying round again.” The ÖTV sports director and Davis Cup captain Jürgen Melzer added with a smile: “It can be a more difficult task in the At least it won’t be autumn. We’re hoping for a solvable task.” The Lower Austrian felt “that our girls definitely sold very well. It took both of them a little bit to get used to yesterday and played really well in the second set. In the end, the higher class prevailed.” On the second day, it was also “very difficult for Grabher in terms of the match-up. Pegula plays very flat, can hit Julia’s backhand flat from both sides and was simply better from the serve. You can see that it is not for nothing that it is so far ahead. Nevertheless, our ladies can leave the square with their heads held high. Of course you don’t like to lose, neither as a coach nor as a player. But it was a great experience for our players, from which they can certainly take a lot with them.”
2023 Billie Jean King Cup in Delray Beach Qualifying Round:
USA – Austria 4:0
Coco Gauff – Julia Grabher 6:1, 6:3
Jessica Pegula – Sinja Kraus 6:0, 7:5
Jessica Pegula – Julia Grabher 6:1, 6:3
Coco Gauff / Caty McNally – Sinja Kraus / Melanie Klaffner 6:1, 6:4
2023-04-15 19:30:12
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