Aiava, Fourlis closer to final showdown
Destanee Aiava and Jaimee Fourlis are one round away from a blockbuster Australian 18/u Championships final - with an Australian Open wildcard on the line.
Melbourne VIC, Australia, 7 December 2017 | Luke Dennehy
Top seeds Destanee Aiava and Jaimee Fourlis are one step closer to a huge final to decide who wins a wildcard in the the women’s singles at next year’s Australian Open.
Aiava and Fourlis both were easy winners on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 18/u girls Australian Championships.
Aiava defeated Renee McBryde 6-2 6-3 while Fourlis, a fellow Victorian, defeated Queensland’s Olivia Gadecki 6-2 6-2.
The other two winners to make the semifinals were Alexandra Bozovic, who defeated Helena Spirits 6-3, 6-4, and Amber Marshall, who recovered to beat Gabriella Da Silva-Fick 1-6 6-3 6-2.
> DECEMBER SHOWDOWN: live scores, schedule & draws
Bozovic and Marshall will be hoping to cause upsets on Friday to progress to Saturday’s final.
Aiava said she was nervous stepping on to the court and felt she had a lot to improve on leading into Friday’s semifinals.
“I’m just really happy to get through,” she said.
Like Fourlis, she hasn’t lost a set all week at Melbourne Park.
“I’m a good roll so far, I’m just trying to stay focused and not give away too many crucial points,” she said.
Meanwhile, Fourlis was happy to get past a dangerous opponent.
“It was a really good match, Olivia is such a tough player to play, she is young and she has a lot of really big shots,” Fourlis said.
“So I just had to come out and and mentally prepare and I thought I did a really good job.”
In the boys 18/u singles, No.1 seed Matthew Dellavedova continued his good form, advancing to the semifinals with a 6-2 6-3 win over Louis Clark.
He will join Alexander Crnokrak (QLD), Bernard Nkomba (NSW) and Joshua Spaull (VIC) in Friday’s semifinals.
The December Showdown continues at Melbourne Park over the weekend, and next week, too – with the Australian Open Play-off field announced today.