The last 2 semifinal slots in singles were determined in Thursday night play in Stadium Court. The first match between Girls top seed Welles NEWMAN ranked 46 and Hannah AYRAULT ranked 344, both from USA, did not disappoint. It was a sensational display of the finest Girls match play that any tennis fan could wish for. Both girls played well, Welles with solid strokes and precision placement, but AYRAULT was on fire converting seemingly distress defensive shots into winners. Both deserved to win but in the end AYRAULT prevailed, by 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. AYRAULT started in the Qualy so has now won 6 straight matches, and now faces the tough 4th seed Janae PRESTON of USA. The final match for Thursday featured the top 2 boys WTN rankings in the draw, Rhys LAWLOR of GBR seeded 8 and Fenchman Mathys DOMENC seeded 4. We anticipated a seesaw tussle but the French player dominated, pulling out a solid win by a score of 6-2, 6-2.
The firs Boys SF match was played on Friday afternoon between Mathys DOMENC of France seeded 4 and Takahiro KAWAGUCHI of Japan. DOMENC’s high ranking of 75 and WTN of 14.44 (the best in the Boys Draw) suggested an advantage over the unseeded KAWAGUCHI ranked 130 and with WTN of 17.39. Indeed this double ratings edge proved too much as DOMENC took the match 6-1, 7-5, and the Japanese player exits after a successful tournament where he won 3 rounds. The final Boys SF match will be played under the lights, between WC Felix ROUSSEL and Xavier MASSOTTE, both of Canada. ROUSSEL plays way beyond his ranking of 761 and has a WTN of 18.00, but his game will probably not be enough against his compatriot MASSOTTE seeded 5 and ranked 78. But matches are played on the court, and not on paper, so tonight’s matchup will be determined on Stadium Court.
In Girls SF action last night’s heroine Hannah AYRAULT squared off against the tough, competent Janae PRESTON, also of USA, for a spot in the final. PRESTON is a strong player with solid groundstrokes and excellent court presence, and brought her A game, which today was more than enough to finally subdue AYRAULT, who finally went down as PRESTON took the match by 6-1, 6-1. Hannah had a terrific tournament, coming from the Qualy to win 6 straight matches, including against the no. 1 seed, but today was perhaps tired physically and emotionally from her 6 day run. PRESTON capitalized on the moment and claimed her place in the Saturday matching. The other Girls SF is to be played Friday night on Stadium Court. The matchup is between no. 7 seed Czech Klara BLAZKOVA and Margaret SOHNS of USA seeded 2. BLAZKOVA, 18 years old and with WTN rating of 20.03, is the underdog against SOHNS, 15 years old with WTN of 16.98.
