Seeded players advance to Wismilak semifinals
SURABAYA (JP): Seeded players went through to the semifinals of the 1997 Wismilak International women's tennis tournament after winning their matches yesterday.
Seeded number one Dominque van Roost of Belgium headed the seed players to proceed into the semifinals when she breezed through with ease in defeating Dally Randriantefy 6-0 6-2.
Seventh seeded Rachel McQuillan of Australia had to work extra hard to defeat compatriot Nicole Pratt in 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in a one- hour-and-53-minute match.
Lenka Nemeckova of the Czech Republic won against Haruka Inoue of Japan 6-2, 6-3 in a one-hour-and-10-minute match.
Maria Alejandra Vento of Venezuela beat Sara Pitkowski of France 6-3, 6-2.
Vento will challenge Nemeckova while McQuillan will meet the winner of the match between Dominique van Roost of Belgium and Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar.
Today's semifinals will be aired live on SCTV at 2.30 p.m.
"I have never met Nemeckova. I think she's a very consistent player. I don't know a lot about her," Vento said.
Yesterday's second match between McQuillan and Pratt attracted nearly 1,000 spectators. Both Australians performed their best play from the baselines.
In the first set, the 24-year-old Pratt played better and won 6-3 because McQuillan had had less than 24 hours rest since playing Japan's Nana Miyagi.
"It's not hot, but the humidity was too high last night and I only had less than 24 hours rest. I felt so flat when I played the first set today and I felt dizzy," McQuillan said.
But in the second set, McQuillan overcome her lethargy to recharge her game with volleys, forcing Pratt to run all over the court.
After a few bad calls Pratt appeared to lose her concentration and become very frustrated. She lost 2-6.
"In the second set, I think I got bad calls in some vital points. It's really frustrating. But it doesn't affect my playing," Pratt told a post-match conference.
"I spent some extra energy because I'm mad but I could forget the bad calls and continue my playing," she added.
In the decider, the 25-year-old McQuillan played more confidently and more aggressively to lead 5-1.
Pratt could only trail 2-5 before her backhand hit the net to give McQuillan the victory.
"It's a good match and we both played very well. But Rachel was more aggressive," Pratt said.
"It's a very tough match and Nicole played well. She made many errors but she fought to the end," McQuillan said.
In yesterday's first match, Nemeckova appeared to have no trouble beating Inoue.
The 21-year-old Czech concluded the first set 6-2.
In the second set, both players equaled at 3-3 before Nemeckova powered forward to take the match 6-3. (nur/yan)