Germans Borger and Kozuch end USA’s Ross and Klineman’s winning streak

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Margareta Kozuch is returning to the first placed where she played beach volleyball in the Fort Lauderdale Major

Watch out, world! The female beach volleyball teams of Germany competing in the 2018 Fort Lauderdale Major are on fire. After Kim Benhrens and Sandra Ittlinger’s victory over Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Duda Lisboa, the team of Karla Borger and Margareta Kozuch posted another surprising win in the first round of the main draw in Florida by upsetting Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman on Pool E.

Kozuch and Borger enjoyed a strong performance, taking down the winners of the World Tour four-star tournament in The Hague in two sets (21-18, 21-17). It was Klineman’s first defeat in the international scene since she transitioned to the beach.

To Kozuch, the triumph was even more special as it happened in the first place she ever played beach volleyball professionally one year ago, after getting a wildcard for the 2017 Fort Lauderdale Major.

“We did great, I think we didn’t make so many mistakes and we put more pressure on them,” she told us. “It was the first game and we never know how it could go. We just tried to put in the game what we have been working on since December. It’s super cool to play here again.”

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Match point! Watch as @Borger_Kozuch 🇩🇪 finish their 2-0 win over @AprilRossBeach @alixklineman 🇺🇸! #FTLMajor #BeachWorldTour https://t.co/GdYmDOytI9

It was the first meeting between both teams, but not the first time Kozuch and Klineman crossed paths as both had successful indoor career and were opponents when they played in Italy.

“I’m happy to have some indoor buddies on the sand,” Kozuch joked. “When my coach heard that she was moving to the beach, he was super excited to see her playing and I said ‘Yes, I played against her and she has a lot of potential’. She’s been playing in the American Tour and she’s great. She’s so tall and moves really fast.”

The victory automatically puts the Germans in the elimination round and they will return to the courts at 4pm (Eastern Standard Time) to play for the first place of the pool against Ukraine’s Valentyna Davidova and Ievgeniia Shchypkova.

Ross and Klineman will face Brazilians Carol Solberg and Maria Elisa Antonelli to decide who will survive and progress in the first Beach Major Series tournament of 2018 on Thursday morning.

You can watch all matches of the 2018 Fort Lauderdale Major live on BeachStream. Click here to register.