Image: APA/EVA MANHART
The women of UTC Fischer Ried are going with confidence to the final tournament of the tennis league in Mauthausen this weekend, where the best four teams of the regular round will fight for the title of national team champion.
The women in Rieder, with team leader Johanna Reiter, won all four group games in the regular season in May. “We knew that we had the opportunity to win in every game. The duels against Schwaz and Kufstein were very close,” says Florian Reiter, the sporting director of UTC Ried. In 2022, the women from the Innviertel made it into the “Final Four Tournament”. In the semifinals, Rieder lost 5-2 to the host club Klagenfurt.
Use of the number one open
This year, as in 2021, they want to make it into the final. This requires a semi-final win against Weigelsdorf (Lower Austria) on Friday (game starts at 11 a.m.). Since the second largest international women’s tournament in Austria is taking place parallel to the final tournament of the Tennis Bundesliga in Vienna, it will only be decided at short notice whether the women in Rieder can compete with their number one, Sinja Kraus.
The 21-year-old, who is currently ranked 208th in the world, will meet Natália Szabanin from Hungary in the round of 16 today. If Kraus wins, she will miss the Bundesliga semifinals. “It’s not just us. It’s very difficult for all four teams to plan for the final tournament when an international ITF tournament is taking place in Vienna at the same time. I don’t understand that the tennis association is planning the final tournament of the Bundesliga at the same time.” , Florian Reiter criticizes in the OÖN interview.
In general, he assesses the game against Weigelsdorf as “a duel on an equal footing”. “If Sinja Kraus can play, we might be a slight favourite, but anything is possible,” says Reiter, who is looking forward to the Final Four in Mauthausen. “It will definitely be a top event at one of the most modern facilities in Upper Austria.”
The Linz AG Team Oberösterreich and the Grazer Park Club will contest the second semi-final. The final will take place on Sunday, September 10, from 11 a.m.
Source: Nachrichten
