Julia Grabher at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz

Julia Grabher can immortalise herself in the annals of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz on Wednesday. If she wins her first round match against Madison Brengle from the USA, she will be the first Austrian singles winner at the WTA tournament in Linz for ten years!

As a reminder, Tyrolean Patricia Mayr-Achleitner was the last Austrian to win a singles match in the round of 16 of the women's tennis classic in 2013 (6:1, 6:7, 6:4 against Ukraine's Maryna Zanevska), before losing 3:6, 1:6 to Germany's Angelique Kerber in the quarter-finals.

"Of course I'm constantly being asked about it, but I'm not putting any particular pressure on myself now. It's an incentive for me to play here in front of a home crowd," said Julia Grabher at the press conference. The Vorarlberg native is looking forward to some extra motivation: "My family and lots of friends are here, which doesn't happen that often throughout the year."

Austria's number one is delighted with the two-year collaboration with coach Günter Bresnik. "He has incredible experience and I really appreciate the fact that he takes time for me. I think I still have a lot of room for improvement." During pre-season training, Julia trained with Austria's favourite decathlete Dominik Distelberger on Bresnik's recommendation. "Because decathletes are complete athletes who know their bodies inside out," explained Bresnik. Is he coming to Linz? "No, he doesn't want to be the centre of attention here," said the Vorarlberg native.

Things get serious for Julia Grabher at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2023 on Wednesday at 4 p.m. How does she rate her first round opponent Madison Brengle? "I know her a bit, I trained with her at the Australian Open. It will be important for me to find my game, which is very physical. It's a good draw, I think I have a chance," said Grabher.

Austria's top player is grateful for the wild card that tournament director Sandra Reichel handed her. Grabher is really looking forward to her personal premiere at the Linz Design Centre. "This location is great, there's a mega atmosphere on the centre court." Well then ...

Eva Lys used her wild card to advance to the round of 16

Made it into the main draw thanks to a wild card and promptly seized the opportunity: The young German Eva Lys (WTA 126) qualified for the round of 16 of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2023 on Tuesday. The 21-year-old from Hamburg, who has been advised by Sandra Reichel since summer 2021, defeated Kamilla Rakhimova, who is the same age, 6:4, 7:6. "It was incredible, I didn't think there would be so many people at the first match. Especially in the second set, when I was a bit behind and the crowd was rooting so hard for me, it gave me an incredible amount of energy. I really enjoyed it," said a beaming Eva Lys.

Germany's young star is delighted with the design centre. "It's really super modern, the colour is great, the pink fits in really well here. Everything is new - you feel totally at home." And the 2021 German champion leaves no doubt that she wants to stay in the tournament for longer. "I definitely know that I have the tennis and the ability to win several rounds here. But I'm playing match by match and trying to improve match by match," explained the self-confident North German.

"Women in Black" enjoyed the Players' Party

"The Players' Parties here in Linz are simply the best!" Maria Sakkari was once again delighted with this traditional event at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. Under the motto "Women in black", players and supporters were able to spend a wonderful evening in the VIP area of the Design Centre. Including a professional dance show by the Hippmann dance school from Wels, competitions and a delicious dinner: It was the perfect start to the tournament week of the Linz women's tennis classic.