2024-01-30 20:42:08
Austria’s only representative at the Upper Austria Ladies in Linz was eliminated in the first round on Tuesday. The 21-year-old Viennese Sinja Kraus clearly lost in the evening against the more highly rated Frenchwoman Clara Burel (WTA 52nd) after just 70 minutes with 1:6.4:6. Thanks to the wildcard, Kraus remained without a set win in her second appearance after 2021 in the main competition of the only WTA tennis tournament in Austria.
Even though Kraus was able to improve quite a bit in the second set, the disappointment prevailed in the end. “Because I didn’t start the match well at all. I was super nervous and I’m not that used to the hustle and bustle all around,” said Kraus in the ORF interview. “The whole thing looked different in the second set. I had my chances, but unfortunately I couldn’t take advantage of them. There’s a lack of experience.” She still tried to take positive things with her. “If I continue to work constantly and take advantage of the opportunity, the whole match can look different,” said Kraus.
Burel, who sensationally eliminated number 5 seed Jessica Pegula (USA) 6:4,6:2 in the second round of the Australian Open, took command from the start. With breaks to make it 2-0 and 4-0 after just 15 minutes, the course was quickly set for the Frenchwoman. Kraus managed a rebreak to make it 1:4, but after 25 minutes the first set was history at 1:6.
In the second half, Kraus turned a 0-1 deficit into 2-1 with an immediate rebreak in her strongest phase. When Austria’s second best player had to give up the service again to make it 3:4, the resistance was broken. Burel made it 5:3.
Kraus improved to 185th place last week thanks to a semi-final at the ITF tournament in Porto. But the class difference in the Design Center was too great.
Austria’s women are still waiting for their first victory since 2013 at the tournament in Upper Austria’s capital, which has now been upgraded to a WTA500 tournament. At that time, Tyrolean Patricia Mayr-Achleitner reached the quarter-finals.
The former world number one, Angelique Kerber, had already had to say goodbye surprisingly smoothly. The 35-year-old German lost to Lucia Bronzetti from Italy after just 63 minutes with 1:6,3:6 on her second tour appearance after her 18-month maternity leave.
Former winner (2018) and crowd favorite Camila Giorgi (ITA) had to admit defeat to the up-and-coming Danish qualifier Clara Tauson in three sets. Top star Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) will only come to Linz on Wednesday and will make her first appearance after a bye on Thursday.
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