Ellen Perez and Jaimee Fourlis have set up an all-Australian final of the ACT Claycourt International #2 after tough victories over their higher ranked opponents.
Seventh seed Ellen Perez defeated the number two seed Eri Hozumi from Japan 7-6(3) 7-5 in a tough two-hour battle.
The Australian was down 5-2 in the first set, but somehow managed to launch a comeback, saving four set points on her way to winning the tight tiebreaker.
“I think at 5-2 she even had set points, I kinda thought ‘oh nothing to lose at this point’, continued going after my shots,” Perez said after the match.
“I kinda felt my tennis kind of change a little bit in that 5-2 game, I felt like I was feeling the ball a little better, a little more confident in my shots and as soon as I got that one game I kinda knew I was right back in it with a chance so yeah just a point here and there.”
The second set was just as tough for Perez, who was serving for the set at 5-3 before Hozumi saved two match points to break back and get it back to 5-5.
But Perez didn’t stop fighting, breaking Hozumi’s serve at 6-5, then holding her own serve to take out the second set 7-5.
“It was a little bit of a rollercoaster at times, I knew that I had to get the break because I was holding more comfortably that returning but when I was serving out at 5-3 she played a really good game so I just knew at 5-5 I had to get back on it, focus and try to get myself that lead again to serve it out.”
Perez will face fellow Australian Jaimee Fourlis [8] in Sunday’s final, after Fourlis deated Australian Zoe Hives 6-2 7-5 in a tough match.
Eighteen-year-old Fourlis started off strongly against Hives, taking out the first set 6-2. But the second set was much tougher, with Hives fighting back and pushing Fourlis, who eventually took the second 7-5.
Fourlis knew that if she stuck to her game plan she could take out the tight second set.
“Yeah of course everyone’s a bit nervous. I did have a couple of opportunities before to serve out the set and she played some really good tennis that I couldn’t really control but I just thought I’d stay calm, stay relaxed, breathe, and just trust myself to be able to close it out.”
“I always knew Zoe was going to come out firing, she’s a great player but I just had to stick to my guns and trust myself… yeah just had to stay patient and just trust the game plan that I had and yeah ended up coming out with the win which I’m really happy about.”
Both Fourlis and Perez are looking forward to the final tomorrow, with Fourlis expecting a challenge.
“ I think it’s going to be a good match, we both get coached by the same person, we train together, so it’s not like we’re strangers to one another. It’s going to be a very high quality match and we’ll see who wins.”
Entry to the Canberra Tennis Centre is by gold coin donation with the final to commence at 11.00am.
Draws and order of play can be found here
Latest
ACT