Laura Mair suffered a defeat.

After a courageous performance: Laura Mair is out

The second day of play at the Raiffeisen ITF Val Gardena Südtirol with $40.000 was a tough one: While local hero Laura Mair was eliminated in the second round after a courageous but ultimately hopeless performance, 16-year-old Tyra Grant caused the biggest surprise of the day with a spectacular victory.

27 November 2024

From: pm/det

The South Tyrolean Mair, currently ranked 806th in the WTA world rankings, lost to the Canadian Stacey Fung (WTA 253) 3:6, 2:6. Despite a committed start, Mair was unable to counter the routine and stability of the 27-year-old North American. After trailing 2:0 in the second set, Fung secured six games in a row and thus the match in just 2 minutes.

Nevertheless, the 21-year-old player from TC Gherdeina was optimistic after the match: "She put a lot of pressure on me. I had to take a lot of risks and made one or two mistakes too many. But I'm happy to be able to play pain-free again after two months." After her long shoulder injury, Mair celebrated an important comeback at her home tournament.

Laura Mair played with commitment but lost in the end.

Fung will now face second seeded Croatian Lea Boškovic (WTA 185) in the quarterfinals. Croatia, already a tennis nation with up-and-coming potential, is the only nation represented by two players in the quarterfinals.

An American woman inspires

The great moment of glory of the day belonged to Tyra Grant. The American, who is ranked 916th in the WTA, beat the top seed Kathinka von Deichmann (WTA 172) 6:1, 3:6 and 6:2 in a high-class match. Grant, who trained alongside Jannik Sinner at the renowned Piatti Tennis Academy for seven years, showed amazing maturity and played with her irrepressible offensive drive. Her aggressive playing style and mental strength were reminiscent of her training sessions with Sinner, as they used to do at training camps in the summer on Elba.

Tyra Grant caused a sensation.

Besides Grant, only one other unseeded player made it to the quarterfinals: Lina Gjorcheska from North Macedonia showed fighting spirit and turned a 5:7 in the first set against Amarni Banks into a confident 6:3, 6:2. Gjorcheska, who is considered the best player in her country, is an experienced figure in the international tennis circuit at the age of 30. Experienced favorites in the race Meanwhile, Viktoria Hruncakova, who recently competed for Slovakia in the Billie Jean King Cup, won comfortably. The former number 43 in the world impressively demonstrated why she is still a dangerous opponent. Tena Lukas from Croatia completed the successful Croatian duo by knocking the last remaining Italian in the field, Federica Urgesi, out of the tournament.

With a mix of up-and-coming young stars and experienced professionals, the quarterfinals on Thursday of the tournament promise to be extremely exciting. However, all eyes are on Tyra Grant, the youngest player in the field, whose performance is already considered the highlight of the tournament. The final is scheduled for Saturday.