An Austrian-German duel will start in the first round of the WTA tournament “Upper Austria Ladies Linz” with local hero Barbara Haas meeting Carina Witthöft!
The clash with the 22-year-old German has brought Babsi Haas himself on Sunday at the draw in the grotto railway of Linz AG, because the 21-year-old Upper Austrian played the “Glücksengel” (Lucky Angel).
Further “cracker” in round one are also the matches between Olympic champion Monica Puig (24) and the Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic and the Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic respectively.Belinda Bencic (20) from Switzerland and Kirsten Flipkens (31) from Belgium.The top seeded Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova (29) plays her first-round match against the Dutch player Richel Hogenkamp (25).
Barbara Haas is full of anticipation:”I live in Linz, train in Linz, my family and friends are watching.It’s the only home tournament I can do,”said Barbara Haas, who was thrilled by the setting of the draw,”Yes, 15 years ago I was in the Grottenbahn as a primary school pupil, a very creative place for the ceremony,”said Austria’s number one tennis player.
And how does she assess her opponent Carina Witthöft?”We have known each other since our youth.She has a very aggressive baseline game, the task is not easy for me.But there is no easy task at all,”said Barbara Haas, a protégé of Jürgen Waber and Sybille Bammer.
Tournament ambassador Barbara Schett is enthusiastic about the “brutal density”that reigns at the premiere of “Upper Austria Ladies Linz”:”Everybody can beat anyone, there is no favourite for the gymnastics victory,”said Austria’s former world-class player.
In addition to Carina Witthöft, two German players are still standing firmly in the main competition: No strolling will lead to the 2nd place.Lap for Tatjana Maria – the 30-year-old plays against 23-year-old Ons Jabeur from Tunisia at the start, while Anna-Lena Friedsam, who is equipped with a wildcard by tournament director Sandra Reichel, will face a qualifier.
The main competition starts on Monday, 9.October 2017, at 2 pm, the evening games will take place from 6.30 pm.
The single-draw from Linz