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Australian Open the target for Melanie

Posted on October 17, 2008, 3:03pm and updated on October 17, 2008 at 10:12 pm

Top seed Melanie South won through to the semi-finals of the Mount Gambier Blue Lake Women’s International Tennis tournament today with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Shiho Hisamatsu.

Melanie SouthThe powerful Englishwoman (pictured left in an earlier game) was too strong for her Japanese opponent in warm conditions.

South was given a scare in the second set though, when Hisamatsu broke serve to level the games at five apiece.

Down 15-40 in the next game South dug deep and clawed back to hold serve, then won the match with a decisive break.

Ranked 129 in the world, South told The Border Watch her objective is to win the tournament and keep winning on the satellite circuit to crack the main draw at the Australian Open.

“There’s a lot at stake for me,” she said.

“I’m aiming to get my ranking down to 110.”

South said conditions were warmer than she had experienced on previous visits to Mount Gambier, and she always felt confident against Hisamatsu.

“I knew if I stayed aggressive I’d take control,” she said.

South had a much stronger serve than Hisamatsu and aced her opponent several times. She also dominated rallies from the back of the court with her explosive forehand.

Melanie SouthHisamatsu worried the Englishwoman when she chipped it around and forced South to stretch for the ball with clever drop shots and lobs.

She was equal to the challenge and covered plenty of ground at speed to maintain control.

South has won US$90,354 so far this year and US$233,578 in her career leading into this tournament with a 181-137 record overall. She made it to the second round of Wimbledon in 2006.

South will meet I-Husan Hwang from Taiwan in the semi-final, who she has never played before. Hwang defeated Nicole Riner (Switzerland) 6-1, 6-3 in their quarter final.

Australian qualifier Sally Peers continued her excellent form and defeated Michaela Johansson (Sweden) 6-4, 6-1.

South African Natalie Grandin triumphed over Yurika Sema 7-5, 6-2.

Quarter final and preliminary draw results below.

Semi-final draw for Saturday: South v Hwang, Grandin v Peers.

MICHAEL GOREY

Mount Gambier Women’s International Tennis Tournament – Upload a Document to Scribd


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