Billie Jean King Cup

Austria narrowly loses to Ukraine 2:3

Sinja Kraus

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Austria's tennis women have lost the battle to advance to the qualifying round for the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup 2025. On neutral ground in Texas, the Red-White-Red lost 2:3 to the favored Ukraine after two days of fierce resistance on Sunday and must therefore return to Group 1 of the Europe/Africa zone in 2025.

After the 1:1 on Saturday, Sinja Kraus put Austria 2:1 in front 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 match, Kraus/Tamira Paszek lost out to Nadija Kitschenok/Zawazka 7:5,2:6,4:6 despite a tough battle. The hope of being able to capitalize on the withdrawals on the part of Ukraine, who had none of their four top 60 players with them, was not fulfilled.

Kraus confident in first Sunday match
In the first Sunday match in McKinney near Dallas, Kraus was a force against the top-ranked Ukrainian Zurenko (118th). One day after defeating Zawazka in three sets, the currently best Austrian in the world rankings (222nd) made short work of her. "That was one of the best matches I've 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 tough time right from the start. She struggled to get through her first service game at 1:1, the second was a little quicker, but the third fell prey to her opponent, who then took all the games. In the second round, the player from Vorarlberg, who is fighting her way back from a wrist injury, got a better grip on the match, which turned into a rollercoaster ride. The breaks took turns, but at 4:4 Grabher missed three break chances and ultimately had to serve out the match. She managed to do so the first time, but then Zawazka made the win perfect.

"I'm disappointed that I couldn't help the team," summed up Grabher, who is currently only ranked 523rd after her wrist injury and has been struggling with "aches and pains" recently. But now she hopes "that I can play through the next few weeks and months. Then I'll be on the right track and hopefully have a ranking in the top 200."

Fierce resistance from Austro doubles goes unrewarded
Tamira Paszek, who had been chosen ahead of Grabher in the singles on Sunday, then had to pull the chestnuts out of the fire in the doubles alongside Kraus. They got off to a promising start by winning the opening set, and despite trailing 0:4, they also put up a fight in the second. However, the Ukrainians eventually took it, which meant that the match had to be decided in a third set. Paszek/Kraus chased an early break for a long time and were unable to catch up in the end.