After a strong start

Rare phenomenon stops Grabher in Indian Wells

Julia Grabher put in a strong performance in Indian Wells.(Bild: Upper Austria Ladies Linz/Alex Scheuber)

"Please wait" was the order of the day last night for Austria's former women's tennis number one, Julia Grabher from Vorarlberg. At the Masters tournament in Indian Wells, the 28-year-old put in a strong performance against US newcomer Iva Jovic - but then the weather gods in the Californian desert put a spanner in the works for the Dornbirn native.

The climate tables for Indian Wells in California's Coachella Valley show an average of just two days of rain in March. Julia Grabher caught one of them in the night from Thursday to Friday, when her first round match against Iva Jovic at the WTA 1000 tournament with prize money of almost nine million US dollars had to be abandoned after 45 minutes of play due to rain.

Straight into the main draw thanks to Krejcikov's withdrawal
Grabher, currently number 388 in the world rankings, had slipped into the main draw of the Masters tournament thanks to the withdrawal of Czech Wimbledon winner Barbora Krejcikov and her protected ranking following her wrist surgery in the fall of 2023. Jovic, who is eleven years younger and ranked 231 positions higher in the WTA rankings, had received a wildcard from the organizers.

Confident start with two breaks
The player from Vorarlberg, who is still waiting for a main round win this year, showed from the start that she finally wanted to make her mark. The protégé of legendary coach Günter Bresnik, who will be accompanied by her brother Alex as touring coach in Indian Wells, first managed a break to make it 3:1 before immediately increasing the lead to 5:1 and subsequently taking the set 6:2.

Grabher won the first set against Jovic with ease.(Bild: GEPA)

Continuation planned for next night
In the second set, both players were only able to get one service game through before the rain spoiled the match. The match is now scheduled to continue on Friday evening at 8 p.m. local time (Saturday, 5 a.m. CET) in Stadium 3.