Saville heating up in Cairns
UPDATE 2:35 pm. Luke Saville's great form has continued with a 6-4 6-3 win against rising Victorian junior Omar Jasika at the Cairns Tennis International on Thursday.
Cairns, 31 August 2012 | Matt Richards
Luke Saville’s great form has continued with a 6-4 6-3 win against rising Victorian junior Omar Jasika at the Cairns Tennis International on Thursday.
Jasika put up a great fight throughout the match pushing Saville all the way. Saville will now face friend and fellow South Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the quarterfinals. Sixteen year old Kokkinakis had one of the best wins of his career, defeating 2011 Cairns Tennis International champion James Lemke 3-6 6-3 7-5 in a marathon encounter.
In the match of the day, top seed Michael Look defeated fellow Queenslander Gavin van Peperzeel 7-6 4-6 6-4. Both players were pushed to their limits in a match that lasted just under three hours on Zinc FM Arena. Look will now face New Zealand Davis Cup team member Michael Venus who easily accounted for his Japanese opponent Yusuke Watanuki.
Women’s top seed Sacha Jones (AUS) is certainly looking the favourite heading into the business end of the event. Jones was impressive in a 6-2 6-1 victory over Victorian Azra Hadzic. She will now face Japanese opponent Sachie Ishizu first up on Zinc FM Arena on Friday.
Monique Adamczak (AUS) continued to move quietly through the draw easily accounting for Wing-Yau Venise Chan (HKG) 6-1 6-3. She will now face Chieh-Yu Hsu (USA) for a spot in the semifinals.
The dream run of 14-year-old North Queenslander Lizette Cabrera ended on Thursday at the hands of third-seeded Frenchwoman Victoria Larriere. Cabrera put up a fantastic fight before succumbing 6-2 4-6 6-3 to her more experienced opponent. Cabrera will gain a lot of confidence from her success over the past month and is certainly a name to watch heading into the Australian summer.
Later today the doubles finals will be played. The women’s doubles final will begin at 5 pm followed by the men’s doubles final. Tyra Calderwood and Tammi Patterson will take on Monique Adamczak and Victoria Larriere while Australian youngsters Andrew Whttington and Jay Andrijic will do battle with experienced New South Wales duo Adam Feeney and Nick Lindahl.