Pro Tour Tennis 2023
Quarter-finals wrap
It was a tale of two courts at the quarter-finals of the $25,000 Darwin Tennis International on Friday.
The two quarter-finals under the spectacular shade structure on Centre Court were both done in just over an hour whereas the two matches on the sun-addled court one were both three-hour marathons!
First up on Centre Court, 5th seeded Ajeet Rai of New Zealand took it to last week’s winner Blake Mott, taking an early 4-2 lead. Mott then ran away with the match, taking it out 6-4 6-1. Sixth seed Jake Delaney then knocked out Luke Sorensen 6-1 6-2. Sorensen should be proud of his efforts though, making his first ITF quarter-final and will also reach a new career-high ranking.
Court One was a different story with two marathon three-setters in which both winners fought back from a set down. Wildcard Jayden Court staged a strong comeback against qualifier Scott Jones, outlasting him 3-6 6-3 6-3 in three hours exactly. Fellow qualifier, American Henrik Wiersholm suffered a similar fate, taking the first set 6-4 over Aussie Kody Pearson before falling in the next two set 3-6 2-6.
Saturday Semi Finals Showdown
We are now down to the last four in singles at the Darwin Tennis International and on paper we have clear favourites with two higher ranked players who had quick matches yesterday taking on opponents who battled through marathon quarter-finals. However, with tennis, anything can and will happen!
First up at 3pm on Centre Court, Jayden Court faces Jake Delaney. Court is in his first ITF semi-final since 2019 in Cairns and will be aiming to take it a step further against sixth seeded Delaney. Delaney is also looking to break new ground and make his first ITF final. Regardless of the result today, Delaney is set to achieve a new career-high ranking and break into the top 700 for the first time.
Blake Mott will then take on Kody Pearson in the second semi-final and aim to make it back-to-back finals in Darwin but could find a strong challenge from Pearson who took out an ITF title in Tunisia only last month.
Following the singles semi-finals, we will find out who the doubles champion for the 2024 Darwin Tennis International will be with an exciting clash looming between the top two teams in the draw. Blake Bayldon and Brandon Walkin are the top seeds and will take on Aussie Thomas Fancutt who is paired with Kiwi Ajeet Rai.
The Darwin Tennis International 2 continues until Sunday September 24 at the Darwin International Tennis Centre.
Mens Singles Final will be Sunday 24 at 3pm.
Free entry, seats under shade, and the canteen is open till play ends.
Full results, schedules and player profiles at https://www.itftennis.com/en/tournament/m25-darwin/aus/2023/m-itf-aus-09a-2023/
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