At dress rehearsal

Olympic starter Grabher has to retire at 0:5

So far, the ITF W35 tournament in Turin had gone very well for ÖTV Olympic starter Julia Grabher, who won two tour matches in a row for the first time since her wrist surgery in the fall of 2023. The shock was all the greater when the player from Vorarlberg had to retire from her quarter-final against Solana Sierra (Arg) on Friday after just 21 minutes at 0:5.

But what had happened? The 28-year-old from Vorarlberg had to concede her first service game after winning just two points. After Sierra - currently ranked 167th in the world - didn't concede a single point on her serve, the score was quickly 2:0. Grabher then missed two chances to reduce the deficit to 1:2 and subsequently conceded the second break. This was followed by another flawless service game from the Argentinian - 4:0! In her third service game, Julia again had two chances to take her first game. But Sierra hit back again and made it 5:0. 

Arm closed out
As Grabher was already struggling with her arm at this point - according to "Krone" information, it "kept closing up" - she decided - also in view of her upcoming Olympic start in Paris - not to take any further risks and to give up. The all-clear should therefore not stand in the way of her Olympic dream

Victories brought motivation
Grabher travels to Paris in the middle of next week, until then the focus is on regeneration. With her two victories in Turin, the athlete from Vorarlberg was at least able to gain new and important self-confidence.