Successful start to the season

Grabher with extra motivation for the Australian Open

Julia Grabher cut a good figure in Auckland recently and was not dissatisfied with her game.(Bild: AP)

"I think I can be satisfied with the start to the season," said Julia Grabher, whose 2:6, 6:3, 7:6 victory over Leyre Romero Gormaz (Sp) at the WTA 250s tournament in Auckland (Nzl) was her first success in the main competition of a WTA tournament for over a year. 

"That was extremely important. On the one hand in terms of self-confidence, and on the other in terms of points for the world rankings." A victory that gave her another highlight: "It was a very cool experience to play Naomi Osaka in the round of 16 in front of a sold-out crowd. Especially as I didn't have many matches in front of a crowd like that last year." An experience that gave Grabher an extra boost of motivation for the upcoming tasks.

"Of course it's a shame that it wasn't enough to win against Osaka," admitted the 28-year-old, who was beaten 5:7 and 3:6 by the former world number one. "But I was up for it, had my chances and Naomi wobbled. I showed that I can keep up with players like that again."

Preparation in Melbourne already underway
In the meantime, the Dornbirn native has moved with her team to Melbourne (Aus), where she will play in the main competition of the Australian Open from January 12 - thanks to her "protected ranking". "I trained for the first time on Friday and will now prepare intensively for a week to be in the best possible shape for the start."