Bille Jean King Cup: Without Julia Grabher against Latvia
Sinja Kraus, Barbara Haas, Tamira Paszek and Melanie Klaffner are in the squad. Julia Grabher not this time.
by p.m
last edit: Oct 15, 2022, 05:20 pm
There are still four weeks until the Alpstar Austria Billie Jean King Cup Team on 11./12. November at the Multiversum Schwechat against Latvia for a place in the spring-rising qualifier for the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals. Now it is also clear which squad will most likely be used to tackle this endeavor, as both teams have to officially announce their provisional team nominations on October 14th. ÖTV sports coordinator and Billie Jean King Cup captain Marion Maruska of course fulfilled the obligation on time and did not exhaust the five-player contingent for the time being: the Lower Austrian nominated Sinja Kraus (WTA 197), Barbara Haas ( WTA 401), Tamira Paszek (WTA 524) and Melanie Klaffner (WTA 650) a quartet. The squad of guests from the Baltic States will only be announced on Friday.
Cancellation by Grabher “came as a surprise”
This time, the Alpstar Austria Billie Jean King Cup Team does not include the red-white-red number one Julia Grabher (WTA 86), who recently made it into the top 100 in the world for the first time, as the first Austrian since January 19, 2015. "Your rejection came as a surprise to me. Initially, her signals were actually very positive that she would be there. Of course, I would have also wished that Julia would play - that's no secret at all," Maruska confessed. "I was always in touch with her. She also wanted to play this time, but because of her ranking development, things turned out differently. Of course I think it's great that we have another top 100 player in her after quite a long time. It's a pity that she won't be able to show her skills in Schwechat this time."
The ÖTV was only informed of this decision last week via Grabher's trainer, ex-Dominic Thiem coach Günter Bresnik. "For Günter and Julia it is more important that they take the opportunity and now collect WTA points in South America, and they don't want to miss this opportunity," explained ÖTV President Martin Ohneberg. If the season ends successfully, Grabher could further improve the already good starting position in order to be able to secure lucrative main competition places after the Australian Open in Melbourne, the French Open in Paris and the grass classic at Wimbledon. "It's a pity that Julia won't play in the Billie Jean King Cup in front of the Austrian audience this time - maybe understandable personally, but bitter for our team and Austria."
Maruska still believes in victory
Maruska also showed some understanding: "You have to respect when Julia says for personal reasons that her own career is more important to her. She has always played for Austria up until now, to be fair, you have to say that.” To what extent does the captain now see a worsened starting position as a result of Grabher's cancellation? "It's difficult to say because we don't know yet which team the Latvians will be with, whether Ostapenko will be there or not. Of course our chances would have been better with Julia, but I think we still have good chances and can beat Latvia because we also have a great team. I am convinced that everyone believes that we can do it. Our players are all very motivated and will certainly give their all. We still have a strong team that can also surpass itself – as you saw in the last appearances in the Billie Jean King Cup, for example.” Province of Antalya took fifth place among eleven nations and was absolutely convincing overall.
Of course, there are reasons why Maruska initially decided not to nominate a fifth player for Grabher: "Because we can organize the training for the nominated players better and they can prepare better that way. We only have one place on site, which we have to share with the Latvians. We have to prepare optimally for this encounter, and that's difficult with five players in one place." However, Maruska kept the back door open: "I can still nominate someone up to the draw the day before the international match - if someone is injured or fell ill.” Of course, Latvia could still make use of this. However, Maruska did not expect the ex-world number eleven Anastasija Sevastova to appear: "It is unlikely because she is expecting a child." Maruska is still expecting the ex-French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko (WTA 17), Darja Semenistaja (WTA 256), Daniela Vismane (WTA 269) and Diana Marcinkevica (WTA 307).
Schweda: "International fight financial challenge"
As is well known, it will be the first home game for the ÖTV ladies since the end of April 2008, when they were relegated from what was then world group II after beating Switzerland 2:3. However, the challenge is not just of a sporting nature: "Financially, the international match against Latvia is a huge challenge for the ÖTV," said the ÖTV business manager, Thomas Schweda. Not least because of the explosive increase in energy costs. "We are currently turning all the screws in the ÖTV office and are working hard together with the organizer Champ Events to at least achieve a black zero for the event. But we are very happy that our ladies can finally play at home again after such a long time. And I would be very happy if many tennis fans on 11./12. Come to the multiverse on November and cheer on our team.”