Julia Grabher couldn't capitalise on her chances

Austria's women's tennis is no longer present at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2023! Julia Grabher, who had received a wild card from tournament director Sandra Reichel, lost her first round match against Madison Brengle from the USA 6:7(2/7), 2:6 on Wednesday afternoon.

Julia Grabher saw it as an incentive rather than pressure to present herself as Austria's number one at the WTA tournament in Linz. The 26-year-old from Vorarlberg was correspondingly confident going into her match against 31-year-old Madison Brengle on "Admiral Day". In the first set, it also looked as if Grabher could capitalise on her chance. But then disaster struck in the tie-break. Grabher was too impatient and made one mistake after another. Austria's number one was ruthlessly honest with herself after her opening defeat. Her first words into the ORF microphone were: "I'm mega, mega disappointed, I didn't deliver my performance. I made too many mistakes, it doesn't matter who's on the other side. It's obviously bitter that this happened to me at a home tournament." So that means: Continue to wait for the first ÖTV singles victory at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz in ten years (Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 2013)!

German women's tennis players come up trumps in Linz

A strong sign of life from Germany's women's tennis at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz: Anna-Lena Friedsam was the third German to qualify for the round of 16 at the WTA tournament in Linz on Wednesday - after Jule Niemeier and Eva Lys. The 29-year-old defeated the 35-year-old Italian Sara Errani 6:2, 6:4. "I've had a great start to the tournament. I was able to continue my good performance from qualifying. I'm very pleased with how I've mastered the first main draw round and I'm very positive about the matches that are still to come this week," said Friedsam.

The German said of her final appearance in Linz in 2015: "It's been a few years now - I think I've developed both as a player and as a person. I'm a different Anna-Lena - I was still very young back then, now I feel a bit more established on the tennis circuit." Friedsam has taken the Linz tournament to her heart. "The way Sandra Reichel always organises her tournaments - it's all great! As a player, you have to give her a lot of praise. We experience the various tournaments every week and this one is one of the best."

Who will follow in the footsteps of Görges, Petkovic and Kerber?

A look at the history of the women's tennis classic in Linz reveals that there has only been one German winner since 1991 - Angelique Kerber in 2013, when she beat Serbia's Ana Ivanovic 6:4, 7:6 in the final. In the meantime, Ivanovic has become a mother after marrying football star Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Angelique Kerber has interrupted her tennis career and is expecting a baby.

With the retirements of Julia Görges and Andrea Petkovic and Kerber's "baby break", three world-class German players have left the tennis circuit in a short space of time. Now it's up to Niemeier and Co. to return to the glory days of German women's tennis. Maybe it starts in Linz? The 23-year-old Jule Niemeier, who qualified for the round of 16 with a victory over Sofia Kenin (USA) on Monday, fought against Anastasia Potapova late on Wednesday evening for a place in the quarter-finals.

Lucky loser: Clara Tauson

One qualifier, who had slipped into the main draw as a "lucky loser" following Katerina Siniakova's cancellation due to injury, was celebrating on Wednesday: Clara Tauson, a 20-year-old from Denmark, defeated Irina-Camelia Begu from Romania 6:1, 6:2. Asked about Coco Gauff's run of success as a "lucky loser" in Linz 2019, Tauson said: "I hope I can do the same, but I've only just come back from injury, so I'm just happy to be here and to have another chance. I tore two ligaments in my foot. I couldn't even walk properly until two or three weeks ago. I'm just happy that my foot is still alive," she said with a laugh.

This is the first time that the Dane has played here in Linz. "I like it very much! The whole tournament location is great and the course suits my game very well. Everyone from the organisation team does their best and tries to keep the players in a good mood, which is great." Tauson said of her very good friend Eva Lys: "We're the same age, we've probably known each other for 10 years, but we've become very close friends, especially in the last six months. I hope that they both play against each other in the final," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

However, the US player Alycia Parks, who had come to Linz as the tournament winner in Lyon, failed to make it through. The 22-year-old, 1.85 metre tall player lost her first round match against Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina 2:6, 5:7. The Czech player Marketa Vondrousova, silver medallist at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, easily strolled into the quarter-finals with a 6:1, 6:1 victory over Spain's Rebeka Masarova.