Finals Friday has swung into Esperance with the Cliffs Esperance Tennis International Singles Quarterfinals and Doubles Finals taking place at the regional club.
The Women’s matches were all straight set wins with crowd favourite Casey Dellacqua booking her spot into the Semifinals tomorrow beating China’s Yi-Fan Xu 6-4 6-2. Olivia Rogowska (VIC) was able to leave her mark on Turkish up and comer Pemra Ozgen, closing the match down 6-3 7-6.
Lena Litvak the pocket rocket from the USA has had a stellar start to the tournament, taking out the number 4 seed in her opening match before disposing of western Australia’s Bojana Bobusic in the quarterfinals yesterday. Litvak today continued her winning streak edging out China’s Ran Tian 6-1 6-3.
After two hours and thirty five minutes Sacha Jones finished all the British’s hopes, beating Lisa Whybourn 7-6(4) 6-7(3) 6-4 in a gallant effort by the number one seed.
It was however a different story in the Men’s quarters. With all the Men’s top 8 seeds prevailing to the finals the match ups were set to be electrifying! WA’s [3] Brydan Klein got the ball rolling on court one as he faced off with the number 8 seed, Matthew Barton (NSW). In what was expected to be a one sided match, Barton really took it to Klein and took the match to a 3 set thriller. Just when Barton looked like causing the upset of the tournament, Klein somehow managed to dig deep and displayed a remarkable comeback in the latter half of the third set claiming the match 6-4 4-6 7-5.
Ben Mitchell the number one seed also had to dig deep against New Zealand’s Jose Statham. The Queenslander holding off a gallant fight back from Statham, closing the match in 2 sets 7-6 7-6.
In another epic dual, Issac Frost [7] upset the number 4 seed Michael Look in an electrifying 3 hours and 20 minutes of top quality tennis on court three. Although the strength in Look’s forehands grazing the tram lines, Frost was playing like a man fighting for survival, and somehow managed to scramble to every ball Look launched. Frost eventually got the upper hand, winning in three 6-7 6-4 7-5.
The match of the day was between [2] Matt Reid (NSW) and [5] Kento Takeuchi (JPN). The match lasted three hours and seven minutes with the Sydney sider winning in 3 sets 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4. Coming into the third set Takeuchi looked like holding the upper hand, however after being on court for such a long time the muscles started to seize up and the physio was called. Reid took advantage, and took an early break.
The Men’s and Women’s Doubles Finals then took to the courts. The Women’s final was up first with [1] Casey Dellacqua and Olivia Rogowska taking on the number three seeds, Monique Adamczak (NSW) and Sandra Zaniewska (POL). The number one seeds controlled the entire match and finished their doubles campaign off in style, finishing the afternoon 6-3 6-2.
After a busy day for both Brydan Klein (WA) and Jose Statham (NZD, they teamed up to take on the number 2 seeds, twins Peng and Wan Gao from China. The crowd experienced some world class tennis as the men displayed their strength and agility on court. Statham found himself on the ground a number of times after launching himself at missile shots coming left right and centre. The number one seeds proved too strong and took the match 7-5 6-3.
“With the Doubles Finals and the Singles Quarterfinals done and dusted for another year, tomorrow’s semi-finals are sure to be a beauty!” David Campbell, President of Esperance Tennis Club announced.
We’ve been really lucky with the weather this week and the standard of play has been incredible. How hard these ‘kids’ can hit the ball is ridiculous. The club and entire town have again really enjoyed putting the event on and being a part of the action. Looking forward to seeing what the next 2 days of play will bring”.
The semi-finals will commence at 10am tomorrow
Main Draw Day 1 Singles Results
MEN’S SINGLES
QF [1] Benjamin Mitchell (QLD) def [6] Jose Statham (NZL) 7-6 7-6
QF [7] Issac Frost (QLD) def [4] Michael Look (QLD) 6-7 6-4 7-5
QF [3] Brydan Klein (WA) def [8] Matthew Barton (AUS) 6-4 4-6 7-5
QF [2] Matt Reid (NSW) def [5] Kento Takeuchi
WOMEN’S SINGLES
QF Lena Litvak (USA) def Ran Tian (CHN) 6-1 6-3
QF [1] Sacha Jones (NZL) def Lisa Whybourn (GBR)
QF [3] Casey Dellacqua (AUS) def [8] Yi-Fan Xu (CHN) 6-4 6-2
QF [2] Olivia Rogowska (VIC) def [6] Pemra Ozgen (TUR) 6-1 6-3
Please find tomorrow’s schedule attached.
The Cliffs Esperance Tennis International is part of the 2011–2012 Australian Pro Tour, a series of professional tennis events that bridge junior events and the ATP/WTA Tour, providing an opportunity for players to earn their first world ranking points.
For more information about the Cliffs Esperance Tennis International, the 2011– 2012 Australian Pro Tour, Tennis Australia or the players, visit www.tennis.com.au. For more information on the ITF Pro circuit visit www.itftennis.com.
For further media information please contact:
Aly de Souza, Tennis West, Tel: 0432 393 517
Latest
WA