Out in round one

Grabher only lasted two sets at the Australian Open

Julia Grabher has already had to leave Melbourne.(Bild: AFP/APA/DAVID GRAY)

Julia Grabher also failed in her second appearance in the main competition of the 58.29 million euro Australian Open right at the start on Tuesday. The 28-year-old from Vorarlberg lost to Wang Xiyu from China 1:6,5:7 after 80 minutes in Melbourne.

Wang thus drew 1:1 in the head-to-head with Grabher. The Austrian has only reached the second round once in five major tournaments so far (Roland Garros 2023).

Wang Xiyu(Bild: AFP/APA/DAVID GRAY)

Günter Bresnik's protégé was self-critical afterwards. "I started the match really badly. She completely surprised me and played very differently than last time. Much faster, she also got to the point quickly. I didn't get into it at all," explained Grabher. She also didn't serve and return well. "Nevertheless, I tried to fight my way in, which I partly succeeded in doing, but at the end of the day it just wasn't enough."

The world number 108 took the Vorarlberg player's (WTA 415th) serve in the opening game and managed the double break at 4:1. The first set was over after just 26 minutes when Grabher lost her serve to zero to make it 1:6. Grabher also quickly fell behind 0:3 in the second set, but she recovered at 2:4 and was able to equalize. However, she did not manage to take the lead again. At 6:5, Wang managed the decisive break to win.

Grabher plays four major tournaments until the end of March
Grabher now has four tournaments left from her injury break in which she can use her "protected ranking". "I have to use them up by the end of March," says the Dornbirn native. She will therefore play at least four major tournaments by then. She regrets that she was unable to confirm her good training performances and good matches recently in Auckland (round of 16). Nothing has changed in terms of her ambition, Grabher assured. "I haven't played for almost a year, of course the fire is still there. I wasn't able to show it today, but I'll try to do better in the next few weeks."

Grabher was Austria's only representative in the women's and men's singles competitions at this year's Australian Open. Alexander Erler and German Andreas Mies and Lucas Miedler and Mexican Santiago Gonzalez are still competing in the men's doubles.