Austria beat Greece in heartbreaker
Austria came from behind and saved three match points to beat Greece 2-1 at the 2020 Fed Cup Group I competition in Tallinn, Estonia.
Watch LIVE GREEK TV including full GREEK SPORTS coverage with Go Greek TV!
In the opening singles match, Greece’s Valentini Grammatikopoulou (world number 301) faced 17-year-old Sinja Kraus (world number 869). The 22-year-old from Kilkis claimed the first set 6-4. She then came back from 0-3 down in the second set to win it 6-4 and give Greece a 1-0 lead overall. Grammatikopoulou now holds an impressive 11-4 record in Fed Cup singles matches.
In the second singles match, Despina Papamichail (world number 258) of Greece took on Julia Grabher (world number 221) of Austria. Papamichail stormed through the first set, taking it 6-1. Grabher then edged the Greek to snatch the second set by a score of 6-4. In the third set, the Austrian went up 3-1. However, the 26-year-old from Preveza responded by winning four consecutive games to go up 5-3 herself. Despite holding three match points, Papamichail was unable to close out the match, and Grabher was victorious 1-6 6-4 7-5 to level the tie at 1-1.
This meant that a decisive doubles rubber would take place between the two teams. Grammatikopoulou and Papamichail played against Melanie Klaffner and Kraus. The Greek duo raced out to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Nevertheless, the Austrians fought back to take the set 7-5, saving two set points along the way. Klaffner and Kraus then took a 3-1 lead in the second set, but the Greeks fought back to go up 5-3 themselves. Despite that, Austria came back once again, forcing a tiebreak after saving two set points. In that tiebreak, Austria prevailed 7-2 to clinch a 2-1 win over Greece.
Greece will now go up against undefeated Italy on Friday. There is still plenty to play for, and the match against Italy will be of high importance in determining which teams advance to promotional play-offs, and which will be headed to the relegation play-off.
AUSTRIA 2, GREECE 1:
Valentini Grammatikopoulou (Greece) def. Sinja Kraus (Austria) 6-4 6-4
Julia Grabher (Austria) def. Despina Papamichail (Greece) 1-6 6-4 7-5
Klaffner/Kraus (Austria) def. Grammatikopoulou/Papamichail (Greece) 7-5 7-6(2)
