Julia Riera remained at the gates of the Australian Open and will have to wait to realize her dream of playing a Slam

The adventure of Giulia Riera it’s over in Australia. After her fantastic week in Brisbane, in which she beat Ekaterina Alexandrova (21st in the world) and reached the round of 16, she extended her great moment in Melbourne, but He ultimately missed the chance to play in the main draw of the Australian Open.

The 21 year old from Pergamin, 123rd in the world ranking, fell against the American Katie Volynets (103rd) for 3-6, 7-6 (4) and 7-5 in a dramatic match that lasted two hours and 46 minutes. She had just beaten Canada’s Stacey Fung and France’s Elsa Jacquemot without giving up sets, but failed to complete the feat with a third consecutive victory.

She had a positive 2023 in which she reached her first WTA semifinal in Rabat, Morocco, won bronze medals in singles and doubles at the Pan American Games and moved closer to the Top 100. But she wasn’t satisfied with that. By 2024 I dreamed of taking the leap and one of those steps was to reach the main design of the Slams. For now, just for now, it couldn’t be.

He played an excellent first set, imposing his baseline game and containing his opponent’s attacks well, almost without suffering in the service rounds. This is how they took the lead on the scoreboard with the initial 6-3, in 36 minutes.

Then, in the second quarter, the singing was different. Volynets changed face, put pressure on Riera’s serve, which is not his main virtue, and went 5-1. Perhaps due to nervousness, he fell into inaccuracies and began to suffer in a match that was in his favor.

It seemed obvious that it would go to the third set, but the Argentine tennis player freed himself from being behind on the scoreboard, reduced the number of errors and forced a playoff. There were a few points missing from the long-awaited finish line, but that wasn’t the case: the American won 7-4. Now, everything has been defined in the third.

There, one break after another set the tone for the end of the match, which ended in favor of the American with a tight 7-5.

Argentinians in Melbourne

In the qually from Australia, Riera was the only one still competing in the women’s draw and Nadia Podoroska will finally be the only Argentine in the main draw.

Previously, Solana Sierra fell to France’s Elsa Jacquemot on Tuesday, who Riera would later overcome, and Martina Capurro defeated Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, only three of the twelve national teams that competed in the men’s qualifying phase are still competing. Santiago Rodríguez Tavern, who will have to face the Italian Flavio Cobolli, e Camilo Ugo Carabelli, who will face the Dutch Jesper De Jong.

Francisco Cerúndolo, Tomás Martín Etcheverry, Sebastián Báez, Pedro Cachín, Federico Coria and Facundo Díaz Acosta await in the main draw.