Third time's a charm for the Strauss sisters

The A1 Vienna Major presented by Swatch joined the international beach volleyball calendar just two years ago and it has quickly become the favorite tournament of several athletes due mostly to the amazing atmosphere created by the local fans at the Danube Island.

Austrian players, for obvious reasons, all have great memories from competing at the Danube Island in the last two seasons, but Teresa and Nadine Strauss are hoping to enhance theirs next week as the twins will for the first time partner for a tournament in their home sand.

“It will be very special for us to play together in Vienna for the first time,” Nadine commented. “In the last two years one of us was injured and we had to play with different partners. We’re so excited to finally play together in our home tournament.”

The twins have both sustained right shoulder injuries in the past seasons and because of that Teresa partnered with Katharina Holzer to take 37th at the 2017 World Championships. Last year, it was the blocker who sat out and cheered for Nadine as she finished 25th with Franziska Friedl.

The best part, however, is that the Strauss twins are guaranteed a main draw berth for this year’s tournament as they were awarded one of the two wildcards among the women.

“We didn’t know we were getting the wildcard until a few days before the deadline and we were so happy when we knew it,” Teresa added. “We live in Vienna and our friends and families will come to cheer for us and we can’t wait.”

Free from injuries, the twins have resumed their partnership at the start of 2019 and have displayed some promising results since then, including the capture of their first World Tour medals, a pair of bronzes in one-star events in India and Austria.

In Vienna, they know they’ll have their best opportunity to get a good result this season and also to make up for the time they missed together on the court.

“It was tough not being able to play together as much as we’ve wanted in these last two years,” Nadine explained. “Not only we didn’t have a chance to go after our goals but we also lot some of our sponsors. But now we’re both feeling good and excited for what’s to come.”