Sinja Kraus misses out on Austrian success

The atmosphere reached its peak in the late evening match when Sinja Kraus appeared, but the 21-year-old Viennese was denied a victory. The only Austrian starter in the main draw of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz with a wild card was defeated 1:6, 4:6 by Clara Burel from France, the number 52 in the tennis world. In front of a full crowd, Burel took advantage of the Viennese player's excessive respect in the first round to win the set quickly. After that, Kraus recovered, also thanks to the fantastic support of the Linz crowd. The fans celebrated every point won by the Austrian frenetically, Kraus was often able to put Burel under pressure in the second set and make the match much more open. After just under 70 minutes, she still lost out, but she had played her way into the hearts of the Upper Austrian tennis fans with her tremendous fighting spirit and fast-paced, sometimes still not consistent strokes. "It's always special to be able to compete in front of a home crowd. I was too nervous at the start, but then tried my best in the second set. I just don't have the experience at this level, I just have to keep working hard," said Kraus, nevertheless taking a positive view.
 
Meanwhile, the German tennis stars experienced a rollercoaster of emotions on Tuesday at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. First, qualifier Jule Niemeier from Dortmund knocked Anna Blinkova out of the competition 6:3 and 6:4, then former world number one Angelique Kerber lost 1:6 and 3:6 to Lucia Bronzetti in her European comeback after maternity leave.
 
Niemeier said after her match: "That was my best match in a long time." She had recently worked a lot on her game with her new coach Michael Geserer, significantly improving her serve and attacking game. Niemeier also really enjoys playing in Linz, and not just because of the short journey. "I always enjoy coming here, and the 500 upgrade for the tournament made me very happy for Sandra and the whole team."
 
Angelique Kerber once won the women's tennis classic in Linz in 2013. Unfortunately, her eagerly awaited comeback to Upper Austria after eleven years fell rather short. Lucia Bronzetti from Rimini spoilt the 36-year-old's evening and won 6:1 and 6:3. Kerber had already said beforehand that she would have to be patient with herself and that it would take a while to get back to her old performances. Unfortunately, the three-time Grand Slam tournament winner was proved right. Bronzetti had the right answer to practically all of Kerber's shots, was also on top of her game athletically and remained error-free for long stretches. "There are days like that," Kerber wanted to forget the match as quickly as possible. "I never found my rhythm, my game." In terms of physical fitness, she has long been back to her old self in training, it's just the implementation in the match that is still causing problems, there is a lack of match practice, Kerber analysed the outright defeat. An appearance in Dubai would now be conceivable in order to gain match practice, while the tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami are already firmly planned.
 
Painful déjà vu for Camila
 
Tennis fans in Linz were also looking forward to the performance of Italian Camila Giorgi on Tuesday, who is a crowd favourite in Upper Austria. The 2018 Linz winner faced qualifier Clara Tauson from Denmark, as she did in the round of 16 last year. Back then, the Dane had dashed Giorgi's title dreams with a 1:6, 6:3 and 6:4 win. This year, the Italian had her sights set on revenge, but the first round match ended in déjà vu. After going 3-6 down in the first set, Tauson got into her stride and turned the match around again, winning 6-3 and 6-3 in the following sets. "Camila is a great player, I knew I had to play well to beat her, but I didn't manage that at the start." The duel was also virtually identical in terms of time to the previous year, with the 2024 match lasting exactly one minute longer at two hours and two minutes. While Tauson clenched his winning fist after the match, Giorgi took his leave to the catacombs of the Design Centre to great applause and wet eyes.
 
The bitter elimination of the 32-year-old Italian was followed live by community leaders from all parts of Upper Austria. In addition to Linz Mayor Klaus Luger, Markus Vogl from Steyr, city councillor Marija Gavric from the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl, Christian Partoll from the Bruckner city of Ansfelden, Eferding's Christian Penn and Sabine Naderer-Jelinek from Leonding, dozens of elected municipal representatives were on the ball at the mayors' reception.
 
Extensive supporting programme with numerous guests of honour
 
The second day of the main competition at the Upper Austria Ladies was also packed with action away from the courts. Numerous athletes from the LINZ AG family came to keep their fingers crossed for the aces at the WTA 500 tournament in the Design Centre. The volleyball players of the Linz Steelvolleys, multiple Austrian champions and cup winners, were fully represented with manager Andreas Andretsch and coach Facundo Morano. The handball players from HC LINZ AG and table tennis great Karoline Mischek from LINZ AG Froschberg were also on hand as onlookers.
 
Linz is serious about its commitment to the Green Event
 
A copper beech tree has adorned the green area at the Design Centre Linz since Tuesday afternoon. Tournament director Sandra Reichel, tournament ambassador Barbara Schett-Eagle, OÖ-Nachrichten editor-in-chiefDeputy Thomas Arnoldner and OÖN Marketing Manager Antonia Koch lent a hand in the presence of host Thomas Ziegler himself and planted the hardy little tree. The beech tree is now growing in the heart of Linz, representing the 500 tree sponsorships that the Upper Austria Ladies Linz took on as part of the OÖ-Nachrichten campaign "100,000 trees for our country".
 
Linz was the sporting centre of our republic in many respects on Tuesday. At the invitation of Upper Austria's state sports director Gerhard Rumetshofer, the sports officers of the other federal states and Philip Trattner, head of section at the Ministry of Sport, were also guests at the women's tennis classic.
 
The evening matches on Centre Court were then heralded by the honouring of ÖTV junior player Anna Pircher and ÖTV Coach of the Year Evelyn Fauth.