At the last moment, Sinja Kraus received a wildcard for the Upper Austria Ladies in Linz, which had been promoted to the WTA 500 tournament. The 21-year-old Viennese is playing in the main competition of the only domestic WTA tournament for the second time and will face the Frenchwoman Clara Burel as an outsider on Tuesday (live on ORF Sport + and in the live stream, broadcast from 3:55 p.m.). The chance that the negative series of the ÖTV players in Linz will come to an end is therefore slim. There has not been a first-round win by an Austrian since Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in 2013.
30.01.2024 10.29
Online since today, 10:29 a.m
“I’m really happy that I got the wildcard at the last moment. It’s a huge event now with the upgrade, and there are only top players there. I hope that I will do quite well,” said Kraus in an interview with the APA on Monday. She knows her opponent, who is in 52nd place, and also their style of play. “She is a strong opponent, but there are no easy ones here. I’ll do my thing and see what comes out.”
After all, she gained a lot of self-confidence on the hard court at the $75,000 ITF tournament in Porto. “I played very well last week. Hard court is not my favorite surface, I prefer to play on clay. I think I made a jump to hardcourt.”
Linz was held as a WTA 500 tournament for the first time
The largest women’s tennis tournament ever to take place in Austria began in Linz on Monday: the Upper Austria Ladies will be held as a WTA 500 tournament for the first time.
Top 150 as a goal
After Linz, Kraus, who mainly trains with coach Daniel Baumann in Ludwigshafen, is planning either an ITF tournament in France or a WTA 250 in Romania. “If I qualify there.” She cannot yet estimate the effects of the recent WTA rule change, according to which top 30 players can only take part in 250 tournaments in exceptional cases. “We will only see how this develops over the course of the year; in the beginning all tournaments are usually very well attended. They have made a lot of changes, there are new categories in the ITF tournaments. Things are constantly changing, basically they just want to do good for us.”
TV
Timetable in ORF Sport +
Kraus’ goal for 2024: “I hope to stay healthy and injury-free, and I also feel fit. The goal is to get back towards the top 150 and also towards the main draws of the Grand Slams.” At Wimbledon last year she was very close to her first match on the big stage when she was eliminated in the third qualifying round. “I was leading by a set and 3:1 and had a ball to make it 4:1,” she looked back wistfully. “Last year’s Wimbledon was incredible, I played three good matches there.” Now she’s hoping for a coup in round one: “It would mean everything to me. I’m imagining it in my head, but I have to bake smaller rolls first.”
WTA 500 tournament in Linz
(Austria, $922,573, hardcourt/indoor)
Starting Table: Jelena Ostapenko (LAT/1) Freilos Clara Tauson (DEN) Camila Giorgi (ITA) 3:6 6:3 6:3 Jaqueline Christian (ROU) Nadia Podoroska (ARG) 6:3 6:4 Jodie Burrage (GBR) Varvara Gracheva (FRA/7) 6:4 6:0 Elise Mertens (BEL/4) Freilos Angelique Kerber (GER) Lucia Bronzetti (ITA) -:- -:- Anastasia Pawljutschenkova (RUS) Martina Trevisan (ITA) 6:4 6:0 Katie Boulter (GBR) Jasmine Paolini (ITA/6) 6:2 6:2 Petra Martic (CRO/8) Katerina Siniakova (CZE) -:- -:-
Sinja Kraus (AUT) Clara Burel (FRA) Tuesday Dayana Jastremska (UKR) Erika Andrejewa (RUS) -:- -:- Donna Vekic (CRO/3) Bye Anastasia Potapova (RUS/5) Sara Errani (ITA) -:- -: – Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA) Lucrezia Stefanini (ITA) -:- -:- Anna Blinkowa (RUS) Jule Niemeier (GER) -:- -:- Jekaterina Alexandrowa (RUS/2) Bye qualification, first round: Clara Tauson (DEN )
Tamara Kostic (AUT)
6:2 6:2
Erika Andrejewa (RUS)
Arabella Koller (AUT) 6:0 6:0 doubles, round of 16:
Melanie Klaffner / Sinja Kraus (AUT) Asia Muhammad / Alycia Parks (USA/4) -:- -:-
2024-01-30 09:30:18
#Tennis #Kraus #fights #ÖTV #negative #series #Linz
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