Published On: Wed, Jan 31st, 2024

Jodie Burrage bagels No 7 seed in Linz Open demolition after coming through qualifying | Tennis | Sport


Jodie Burrage won her first WTA Tour-level match of the season as she thrashed No. 7 seed Varvara Gracheva 6-4 6-0 at the Upper Austria Ladies Open in Linz. The Brit had to come through qualifying to reach the main draw and made the most of her spot, needing just over an hour to defeat the world No. 46.

Burrage came into Linz with little form, having won just one match this year at the 125k event in Canberra before suffering first-round losses at the Hobart International and the Australian Open. But she was able to come through qualifying in Linz with two good wins to reach the main draw.

She received a tough opponent in Gracheva but used her experience in qualifying to her advantage, winning more than half of the points on the Frenchwoman’s serve and firing down six aces to book her spot in round two. “I played a really good match today,” Burrage said after her 6-4 6-0 demolition job.

“You know, she’s a really great player and I had to come on the court and hit her off it. And I think playing qualifying really helped me do that today. You get a feel for the courts a little and it’s her first match so I knew that going in and I tried to use that to my advantage and it worked. I’m really happy with how I composed myself in that second set and just got the job done.”

After hearing that she won more than 50 per cent of the points on Gracheva’s first serve and 67 per cent on the second, the British No. 2 replied: “Her serve is not easy, it’s actually quite in the body and I took a few steps back and came onto the ball.

“That’s something I’ve been working on the last few weeks as well so it’s good that you’ve just told me that, it’s good that my work on the practice court is coming out on the match court, hopefully I can do that in the next round too.” Given her lack of match wins coming into Linz, Burrage also admitted that she hadn’t been feeling her best before this week.

“I’m just taking one match at a time,” she added. “I’ve actually not been feeling amazing so I’m pretty happy with the result today and I’m just trying to recover my best and get ready for the next match. But I’m loving it here, it’s my second time here. Definitely better than the first time so I’m really enjoying it.”

With fellow Brit Katie Boulter watching on in the crowd, Burrage went down an early break at 0-2. But she immediately cancelled out Gracheva’s advantage, getting back on serve and dropping just two more games for the rest of the match.

The world No. 102 broke again in the seventh game of the match, going on to take the opener 6-4 in 40 minutes. She raced through the second set, hitting four aces and making 76 per cent of her first serves as the seventh seed struggled to get a look at her serve.

Burrage broke three more times and served for the win at 5-0. She ran into some trouble when Gracheva suddenly had four chances to break back but the Brit held her nerve and closed out the match in 67 minutes. Burrage will now face either Camila Giorgi or lucky loser Jaqueline Cristian.



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