Keystone
Viktorija Golubic fails in the first round of the Australian Open. The 33-year-old from Zurich was defeated 1:6, 6:2, 1:6 by Varvara Gracheva from France.
Golubic (WTA 83) and Gracheva (WTA 77), who are ranked close to each other in the world rankings, fought a back-and-forth duel around lunchtime. In the end, however, the Russian-born player came out on top in just under three and a quarter hours.
Golubic missed the start completely in the summer temperatures and lost the first five games. The second set was evenly poised until 2:2, before the Swiss player won four games in a row. But then the thread suddenly broke again. In the deciding set, she had to concede her first service game in a long match and ultimately failed to win a game on her own service.
Gracheva was rewarded for her more risky game and won for the third time in the fourth duel between the two – for the third time in three sets. The Frenchwoman, who is eight years younger, hit twice as many winners (40:20) as Golubic and thus made up for the significantly more unforced errors (35:23).
The trip Down Under thus ended in disappointment for the Swiss player. She had lost in the first round of qualifying at the only preparatory tournament in Hobart. Last year, she had reached the 3rd round of the Australian Open for the first time at the eighth attempt, but now she failed to make the starting line-up for the eighth time.
