After 14th tournament win

“Don’t overrate it, but the direction is right”

Julia Grabher was able to celebrate the 14th title of her career in Sardinia.(Bild: Instagram/Julia Grabher)

"The last few months have been a difficult time for me," admitted Julia Grabher. The 28-year-old from Vorarlberg was all the more delighted that she was able to secure her first tournament win in Sardinia after her wrist surgery - but she doesn't want to overrate it.

"It's not just a great joy for me. It's also a huge relief," admitted Julia Grabher after winning the 14th title of her career at the ITF W35 tournament in Santa Margherita di Pula in Sardinia (Italy) - the first after her complicated wrist operation last fall.

The world no. 793 from Dornbirn, who had to fight her way through qualifying in Sardinia and had already played six matches before the final, did not get off to a good start in the final against Leonie Kung (Sz/ WTA no. 255). She lost the first set 3:6 after just 38 minutes. But Julia fought back impressively, as she had already done in the semi-final, and shot her opponent off the clay court 6:0 in the second set. Although Kung took a 2-0 lead in the decider, the former Austrian number one didn't allow her a single game after that and emerged as the 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 winner after 132 minutes of play.

A lot of uncertainty
"You can't overestimate the success, it was - in quotation marks - only a W35 tournament," said Grabher. "However, the past twelve months have been a difficult time for me with a lot of uncertainty. But this success is confirmation for me that I'm on the right track."

An important step, then. "It was good that I played seven matches in seven days, including the qualifiers," explained the 28-year-old. "It's the only way to get the necessary match fitness that I've been lacking recently." Grabher will play another tournament in Sardinia in the new week, but will not have to go through the qualifiers this time.