The Australian men made it three from three in the quarterfinals at the Canberra Tennis International, while Queenslander Kimberly Birrell is the only homegrown hope left in the women’s event.
Fifth seed Luke Saville (SA) survived a tight three setter against Marcos Giron (USA), who had knocked out top seed John Millman (Qld) in the second round, to keep his title hopes on track. After cruising through the first set 6-4, Saville dropped the second 1-6 before fighting back to clinch the third set tiebreak 7-6(1).
He is the only seed left in the men’s draw, after Matt Reid (NSW) knocked out seventh seed Zhe Li (CHN) 7-6(4) 6-2 and Ben Mitchell (Qld) eased past eighth seed Alex Bolt (SA) 6-4 6-2.
Saville will face the heavy hitting Czech Robin Stanek in the semifinals while the match-up between Reid and Mitchell will guarantee at least one Australian finalist.
In the women’s event, 17-year-old Birrell continued to show why she is one to watch with another strong win, this time over Jessica Wacnik (USA). Birrell was all class in her 6-2 6-2 win and is now through to her second straight semifinal after finishing runner-up in Brisbane.
Birrell will face American Asia Muhammad in the semis while Japanese duo Eri Hazumi and Misa Eguchi will play for the other final spot.
Whatever the singles result, Hazumi and Eguchi will then pair up in the women’s doubles final after knocking out Canberra’s Alison Bai and Ling Zhang (HKG) 6-2 7-6(3). They will face the American pair of Lauren Embree and Muhammad in the final.
Entry to the Canberra Tennis Centre is free with play starting at 11am on Saturday.
Enjoy finals tennis and extra entertainment this weekend with a jumping castle and face painting for the kids or try your luck at Hit the Target and the Capital Hotel Speed Serve competition.
All Order of Play, Draw information and live and completed scores can be found here: tennis.com.au/protour/canberra
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