Tennis: Paszek returns to ÖTV after five years

Paszek opened the duel on Friday as an outsider against the world’s 18th seed. Yelena Ostapenko. Krause then meets Daniela Wiesmann (WTA-266.). For the first time in 14 years, ÖTV will play in front of their fans in what is now called the Billie Jean King Cup (formerly Fed Cup). ÖTV is an obvious outsider without top 100 player Julia Graber, who preferred to chase points on the WTA Tour.

It’s a comeback for the 31-year-old Paszek: despite being nominated multiple times, she’s playing for Austria again for the first time since 2017. Then with Ostapenko against a former Grand Slam winner. “Old requirements that are familiar somewhere, but new after many years. It feels so great to play with Austria in general. “The last memories of the FA Cup in Dornbirn were terrifying moments,” Paszek said happily.

For ÖTV captain Maruska, the decision against Barbara Haas was one for Paszyk. “Tamira has just played very well in the last few weeks, and the surface here suits her very well,” the former player explained.

Rocky’s way back

Paszek made several unsuccessful comeback attempts. The woman from Vorarlberg confessed, “I would have been a liar if I hadn’t given much thought to throwing in the towel, or if I asked myself, What am I doing for him?” Without a ranking, and without the help of wildcards to qualify for small tournaments, the former local tennis star would have been difficult to accommodate. “There were conditions that I first had to learn to accept.”

The way back is not only rocky, but also requires a lot of patience. Since his peak, Paszek has also struggled with long back pain due to the extremely bothersome trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic pain condition of the trigeminal nerves of the face. “It can last a lifetime, but I have a good handle on it. I’m fine, thank God. I don’t feel any pain.”

Paszek dreams of Wimbledon

And although it has been almost nine years since Paszek was in the top 100 in the world rankings, she wants to do it again. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done it. The goal is definitely to play the major tournaments again.” First and foremost, you want to be able to compete again in the playoffs at the Grand Slam tournaments and make your way from there.

Paszek has not set a time limit for herself, although she will be 32 years old soon. “I really feel like I’m on the right track. It took me a long time before I was able to reshape my game the way I originally played it.” The big dream of playing again on the ‘holy grass’ at Wimbledon, where she reached the quarter-finals in 2011 and 2012, she still has. Wimbledon led the comeback.

Krause is number one in Austria for the first time

In addition to Paszek, Kraus denies granting the second individual to Austria. For the 20-year-old, it was her 10th Billie Jean King Cup overall, but for the first time she is ranked number one in Austria. The current number 197 in the world played against Vismane four years ago and lost 6-7 1-6 when he was 16 years old.

“I am really happy to be part of the team and to be able to play first. This is something very special, especially a chick in the team,” said Krause, who was born in Vienna. She also regrets not having Grabher. She initially said she would like to be there, but she has developed well and wants to take advantage of her good form, which I can understand.”

Austria with luck in the play-off

Austria did not participate in the playoffs, which only existed in this format for a few years. For the first time since 2008, when ÖTV Women lost two international matches in what was then World Group B, the ÖTV team has the chance to rise to the top of this traditional competition with a win.

With a bit of luck, Austria’s women’s tennis slipped into the playoffs. After finishing fifth in Europe and Africa Region One, the team benefited from the exclusion of Russia and Belarus due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Glasgow as the venue for this year’s finals. As a result, Great Britain had a steady start, and the ÖTV team grabbed the British ticket. For the first time since 2008, Austria not only plays a home match, but also participates in the international match, which is based on the format of four singles matches and one doubles match.