Tyra Grant is on course in Wolkenstein. © Christian Staffler

A 16-year-old enchants Wolkenstein

Tyra Grant, just 16 years old, is making a fairytale story at the $40.000 ITF women's tournament in Selva. The young American, daughter of former basketball pro Tyrone Grant and Italian model Cinzia Giovinco, has played herself into an unstoppable winning streak in Selva.

28 November 2024

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On Thursday, Grant triumphed in a grueling quarter-final against the experienced Macedonian Lina Gjorcheska. The latter had an impressive 13 singles and 47 doubles titles on the ITF tour and went into the match as the clear favorite. But Grant, who trained years ago at the famous Riccardo Piatti Academy with none other than Jannik Sinner, showed remarkable resilience. After 2 hours and 40 minutes, the score was 1:6, 7:6 (5) and 7:6 (1) - one of the biggest victories of her still young career.

Grant's path to the semifinals reads like a success story from a tennis fairytale book. In the first round of the main draw, she had already eliminated a prominent favorite, Kathinka von Deichmann, the number 1 of the tournament and current WTA 172.

On Friday, Grant faces her next big challenge. In the second match after 14 p.m., she will face Viktoria Hruncakova, the former top-50 player from Slovakia who recently shone in the final of the Billie Jean King Cup. Hruncakova had no trouble in her quarterfinal against Lithuanian Justina Mikulskyte, winning 6-4, 6-1.

Lots of drama in the evening game

While Grant made the headlines, the evening match of the quarterfinals offered drama of the highest order. Lea Boskovic, who started as the Croatian number 2 in the tournament, fought a real battle of attrition with the Canadian Stacey Fung that lasted almost three and a half hours. After Boskovic won the first set 7:6 (7), Fung hit back with a 7:5 in the second set. In the deciding set, the Canadian left no doubt about her victory with a decisive break to make it 4:2 and a final 6:2. Fung, who had eliminated local hero Laura Mair on Wednesday, benefited from her strong first serve.

On Friday, in the first semi-final at 14 p.m., she will face Israeli Lina Glushko, who clearly dominated her quarter-final against Croatian Tena Lukas with 6:1, 6:3 in just one and a half hours.

The tournament is also approaching its climax in the doubles. Yesterday's semifinals were won by the Polish-Swedish pair Martyna Kubka/Lisa Zaar and the duo Carolina Kuhl (Germany) and Mia Ristic (Serbia). Both will meet in the final today in the third game after 14 p.m.

The highlight of the tournament will take place on Saturday morning. The final of the individual competition will take place at 10 a.m. – and it promises to be a fitting conclusion to a tournament that is already rich in stories that will be told for a long time to come.