Kraus Fights Her Way into the Kitzbühel Final

Sinja Kraus is in the final of the WTA125 Challenger in Kitzbühel.

The Viennese, seeded number two, won her semi-final match after a slow start against Spain's Marina Bassols Ribera (WTA-130th) with 3:6, 6:4, 6:1.

For Kraus, it's her second final appearance of the year after Oeiras in April. In addition, the current world number 90 will further improve her ranking.

Difficult Start for Kraus

The match started anything but ideally for Kraus. The 24-year-old couldn't find her rhythm on her own serve at all, suffered three breaks in the first set, and was already trailing 1:5 at one point.

Although the 24-year-old managed to shorten the deficit to 3:5, the first set went to the Spaniard 6:3 after 40 minutes.

In the second set, Kraus significantly improved. While a veritable break-fest ensued initially, at 5:4, the Austrian converted her second set point after a double fault from her opponent to level the sets.

Kraus Ramps Up in the Deciding Set

In the third set, Kraus definitively took control. After a hard-fought first service game, she immediately broke Bassols Ribera's serve and pulled ahead to 3:0. The Spaniard now appeared increasingly error-prone; Kraus soon after also secured the double break for a 4:0 lead.

Although Bassols Ribera managed another rebreak, the Viennese responded promptly with her eighth break of the match in total, making it 5:1. Shortly after 2 hours and 10 minutes, Kraus converted her second match point to reach the final.

"It was super-tough for me today. Nothing worked at all in the beginning. Thanks to the audience for getting me through it today," Kraus said in an ORF interview after the match. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It's so nice to play at home and it will certainly be a great final," the 24-year-old looks ahead to tomorrow's final, where she will face either her compatriot Julia Grabher (WTA-112th) or the top-seeded Slovenian Veronika Erjavec (WTA-99th).