Austria’s tennis women have lost the battle for promotion to the qualifying round for the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup 2025. On neutral ground in Texas, Red-White-Red lost 3-2 to the favored Ukraine after two days and dogged resistance on Sunday and will therefore have to compete again in Group 1 of the Europe/Africa zone in 2025. However, the four best players were not at the start of the winners.
After the 1:1 on Saturday, Sinja Kraus put Austria 2:1 ahead with a 6:1,6:1 over Lesia Zurenko, before Katarina Zawazka equalized to 2:2 thanks to a 6:2,7:5 against Julia Grabher . In the decisive doubles, Kraus/Tamira Paszek ultimately lost to Nadija Kitschenok/Zawazka 7:5, 2:6, 4:6 despite a tough fight. The hope of being able to capitalize on the cancellations on the part of Ukraine, which did not have any of its four top 60 players there, was not fulfilled.
Kraus confidently in the first Sunday game
In the first Sunday game in McKinney near Dallas, Kraus was a force against Zurenko (118th), the best-ranked Ukrainian in the world rankings. One day after she defeated Zawazka in three sets, the currently best Austrian in the world rankings (222nd) made short work of it. “That was one of the best games I played for Austria. I played so consistently that I didn’t give her any room to breathe,” said the 22-year-old.
Grabher, on the other hand, had a difficult time from the start. She had difficulty getting through her first service game to make it 1:1, the second one was a little faster, but the third one fell prey to her opponent, who then won all the games. In the second round, the Vorarlberg player, who is fighting back from a wrist injury, got more access to the game, which turned into a roller coaster ride. The breaks alternated happily, but at 4:4 Grabher missed three break chances and ultimately had to avert the loss of the match as server. She managed to do that the first time, but then Zawazka completed the victory.
“I’m disappointed that I couldn’t help the team,” summed up Grabher, who is currently only in 523rd place after her wrist injury and has recently had to repeatedly struggle with “aches and pains”. But now she hopes “that I can play through the next few weeks and months. Then I’ll be on the right track and will hopefully have a ranking in the top 200.”
Fierce resistance from the Austro double unrewarded
Tamira Paszek, who was preferred to Grabher in the singles on Sunday, then had to pull the chestnuts out of the fire alongside Kraus in the doubles. The start was promising with the opening set won, and in the second set they stood up again despite being 0-4 behind. The Ukrainians finally won it, meaning the decision had to be made in a third set. Paszek/Kraus chased an early break for a long time and were unable to catch up in the end.
