The duel begins with Julia Graber playing against Goff. Sinja Kraus then plays against Pegula. “Of course we are blatant underdogs. But the Billie Jean King Cup has its own rules. There, players always outdo themselves when they play for their country,” said ÖTV team boss Marion Maruska. This was also the case for their team, captained by Julia Graber and Senja Krause, in the shock 3-2 win over Latvia in the play-off in Schwechat in November. Only then was the high-profile match in the United States possible.
“Even if the task is very difficult, I think it’s great that our girls are rewarded with such a great international against the United States, because they deserved to beat Latvia,” said ÖTV’s sports director Jürgen Melzer. slick. The stadium in Delray Beach holds 4,000 spectators.
prominent opponents
The 29-year-old Pegula is still waiting for her third career title of the season, but has consistently performed well. After the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, Doha was the last stop, followed by Dubai, Miami and finally Charleston in the semi-finals.
The 19-year-old Gauff triumphed for the third time at the WTA tournament in Auckland at the start of the year, after which the semi-finals in Dubai were the best performance of 2019 winner Linz.
The upward trend among ÖTV women
The Austrian players can only dream of such results. The 26-year-old Grabher recently reached the WTA 500 Tour of 16 for the first time in Charleston and is ranked 78th best ever. This is also true of 20-year-old Senja Krause, who is ranked 153rd in the world after her maiden win in the main draw in Bogota.
Maruska hopes the two can take the momentum with them. “They are really in top shape.” The lineup also includes Barbara Haas (27) and veterans Tamera Pasek and Melanie Klavner (32 each).
Kenin replaces the keys
In the USA, the number three budget, Madison Keys, was replaced by Sophia Kenin (WTA-134) without giving a reason, and Danielle Collins (39) and Katie McNally (67) are also in the team. Thus, four American players are ranked better than Austria’s number one player. This also emphasizes the “David versus Goliath” starting position.
In head-to-head matches, the hosts are clearly ahead at 7: 2, but the last duels were surprisingly won by Austria.
Memories 2003
Maruska was still an active player in the 3-2 win at Charlotte in 2002 (First Round/Clay). “There is always a vision to have, like we did in Charlotte. This has worked really well before,” Lower Austrian said.
In 2004 (quarter-finals / clay) he triumphed 4: 1 followed at the foot of the Bergiselschanze in Innsbruck. Maruska said that everything will now be done to become a stumbling block for the favorite for the third time in a row.
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