Koller eliminated as first Austrian player in Kitzbühel

Arabella Koller is the first Austrian player to not make it past the first round of the WTA-125 tournament in Kitzbühel.

After Julia Grabher and Ekaterina Perelygina on Monday, and Sinja Kraus in the match before, won their first-round encounters, Salzburg native Koller had to concede defeat to Mona Barthel (GER) in three sets with 2:6, 7:6 (8), and 4:6.

The 25-year-old managed to keep the match balanced at the start but had to drop her second service game. With the break in hand, the German played strongly and broke the Austrian player's serve once again to win the set.

Koller takes second set in tie-break

In the second set, the Austrian also had to drop her serve to go down 1:3, but Koller broke back to make it 4:3 and soon after leveled the score.

After that, the 35-year-old German lost her rhythm, and with three double faults and an unforced error, Koller took her serve. Barthel then took a lot of risks, managed a re-break, but then had to drop her serve once more.

With her back against the wall, the world No. 223 saved herself against the Salzburg native with another break to force a tie-break. This developed into a thriller, with Koller fending off two match points and taking the set in the tie-break with 10:8.

Barthel wins break-fest in decisive set

In the decisive set, breaks "rained" once again, with the Austrian being the first of the two players to hold her serve only in the fifth game.

After that, Koller dropped her serve twice again, while the former world No. 23 only had to concede one re-break and ultimately served out the match after just over two hours.

This means there are currently three Austrian players in the round of 16 at the WTA's return to Kitzbühel. Burgenland native Leonie Rabl will next face Dutch player Arantxa Rus (WTA 157) on the Grandstand.