Vienna Padel Open: Historic home win on Whit Monday
History was made on the second day of pre-qualification at the Vienna Padel Open in the STEFFL Arena (June 5th to 12th): For the first time, an Austrian women's duo won the World Padel Tour.
by p.m
last edit: Jun 07, 2022, 08:03 am
Rebeca Fernandez Niederacher and Dawn Foxhall, thanks to a wild card in the pre-qualification, seized the opportunity on Whit Monday and prevailed 6:2, 6:1 against the Russians Daria Ovsiannikova/Angelina Neizvestnaya.
Rebeca Fernandez Niederacher comes from Spain and now lives in Austria. She is a sports enthusiast and plays rugby in a club and beach volleyball. The passion for padel quickly grabbed her. "When I picked up the racket for the first time, I knew immediately that this would be my new sport. To be standing here on the center court at a World Padel Tour tournament is simply breathtaking.”
Surprising success
Her partner Dawn Foxhall is from Great Britain, grew up in Zambia and now lives near Graz. In her youth she played tennis, then also squash and racketlon. “You can take something away from all sports. The background definitely helps, which is why it was easy for me to get started with padel.”
Victory in the first round came as a surprise to both of them: “We went in with no expectations. Then it went great from the start. Thank you everyone for letting us play here. We are very proud that we were given this opportunity and were able to take advantage of it.” They commented on their historic success with a broad grin: “That's unbelievable! We train as best we can in our free time, but other international players are certainly more professional. This victory should also be a motivation for other players in Austria.”
Final stop in round two
In the evening session, Rebeca Fernandez Niederacher/Dawn Foxhall were allowed to compete again on Center Court. In the second round of pre-qualification they faced the two top 100 players Lucia Perez Parra/Giorgia Marchetti (ESP/ITA). In the end, the local heroes had to admit defeat 4:6, 0:6.
Rebeca Fernandez Niederacher/Dawn Foxhall were able to keep the match open until the score was 4:4 in the first set, keeping up with their favorite opponents. Then the thread broke. "They have more experience on the World Padel Tour, a few small mistakes from us made the difference," said the Austrians. “Nevertheless, it was a great experience, we can learn a lot and take a lot with us. Hopefully we can prove ourselves here again next year.”
The remaining two red-white-red duos had to give up in the first round of the pre-qualifiers: Elisabeth Seehofer and Christine Seehofer Krenn lost to Ana Varo Ramos/Catarina Castro Vilela (ESP/POR) 0:6, 0:6, Barbara Prenner and Anna Schmid also missed a game win against Margarida Fernandes / Patrícia Ribeiro (POR/POR).
Wednesday is Austrian Day
The two Austrian men's duos were eliminated in the first round of pre-qualification on Sunday: Niklas Schmutz and Thomas Grubmiller were beaten by Pablo Andrés Rojas Tapia/Pedro Díaz Torregrosa (CHL/ESP) 2:6, 1:6. Gernot Prammer and Christian Salek lost to Adrian Martinez/Pablo Diaz Del Guante Valentin Fernández (ESP/MEX) 0:6, 0:6.
There is still an Austrian duo in the tournament: Christoph Krenn and David Alten are in the main competition thanks to a wildcard and get it on Wednesday (last match of the day on Center Court, around 6:30 p.m.) with Juan Martin Diaz/ Alejandro Arroyo ( ARG/ESP) to do. Tickets for Wednesday and all other days are available from www.wienticket.at. If you buy three tickets for Wednesday, you get the fourth for free, if you come to the STEFFL Arena in an Austrian jersey, you can enter for free.