Latvia's Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova made a splash in their first match at the A1 Beach Pro Vienna 2024 on Wednesday, beating Ukraine's Maryna Hladun and Tetiana Lazarenko 2-0 (21-14, 21-11).
Coming into the tournament fresh while their opponents had played two qualifiers the day before, including a win over Austrian home duo Schützenhöfer/Plesiutschnig, the Latvian duo nevertheless demonstrated why they are the number one seeds of the tournament. The Ukrainians fought hard but Tina/Anastasija were never in real trouble.
The two-time European champions served up a number of aces and blocks to easily win their Pool A match. Their next opponents won't be as easy to beat however as they play the 2020 Olympic silver medallists, Australia's Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy at 6 p.m.
