The dream of the first Swiss medal at a women's beach volleyball world championship is over. Anouk and Zoé Vergé-Dépré were eliminated in the round of 16 in Adelaide.
18.11.2025, 14:09
SDA
In the end, the Vergé-Dépré siblings were hugely disillusioned. Empty looks, a fake smile as they were congratulated, followed by the realization that the World Championships in Australia, which had gone so well for them so far, had ended far too soon.
"We have to come to terms with that first," said Zoé Vergé-Dépré immediately after the game. And sister Anouk added that she had not expected this ending and that "we are correspondingly disappointed".
As convincing group winners in the preliminary round, Anouk and Zoé Vergé-Dépré lost to the Americans Julia Donlin/Lexy Denaburg, against whom they had previously always won and never dropped a set, in just under an hour 21:16, 16:21, 11:15.
"It's very difficult right now"
But somehow the match got out of hand after a strong start (21:16, 7:6). The USA team improved. In the tie-break, Anouk and Zoé Vergé-Dépré never led again.
The initial analysis did not provide any clear conclusions. "We got off to a good start. But then we ran out of steam," said Anouk Vergé-Dépré. The 33-year-old from Bern was taking part in the World Championships for the seventh time, but will probably not be able to add another World Championship medal to her palmarès with a European Championship title (2020) and an Olympic bronze medal (2021).
Zoé Vergé-Dépré (27) couldn't believe it either: "It's very difficult to deal with this situation right now. I wonder how we went from playing very clearly and decisively to suddenly becoming anxious and cautious. And not necessarily due to strong pressure from our opponents."
Americans in form
Nevertheless, the two Americans from Florida can play beach volleyball. They won two out of three matches in the preliminary round - and before the World Championships, they qualified for the final at the Elite 16 tournament in Newport Beach. There they also defeated Brazilians Ana Patricia/Duda, who they will meet in the round of 16 at the World Championships. Anouk and Zoé Vergé-Dépré lost both of their previous head-to-head matches against the Brazilians.
