Brit Heather Watson overcame six rain delays in her semifinal alone and American qualifier Madison Brengle managed to follow up her two Thursday’s wins with a three-set victory in Friday’s semis to make the 2015 Hobart International final.
The 49th-ranked Watson prevailed against eighth seed Alison Riske 6-3 7-5 in a match delayed as much as six times due to rain, including on one match point! Unlike Riske, Watson was the lucky one yesterday, not having to play two matches to reach the semis following the soaked Wednesday.
Imagine the drama when Watson was leading 6-3 5-4 ad-40, having her third match point, and play had to be stopped because of the weather! And to make things even more complicated, when the match resumed, Riske broke Watson’s serve to level at 5-5 in the second set, having earned a break point when Watson thought she had scored an ace but it turned out to be a wide shot. However, after executing the hard part in the windy conditions, Riske piled up errors on serve to hand Watson a chance to again serve for the match and finish it in her favor. Final score: 6-3 7-5.
In the second semifinal, the 84th-ranked Brengle, who had beaten both Kateryna Kozlova and Karin Knapp on the packed Thursday to make her first WTA semifinal, backed up the success with a 6-4 1-6 6-3 victory over Kurumi Nara to reach the title match.
I hope you enjoyed our photographer Jimmie48’s Australian coverage. After his amazing weeks spent in Brisbane and Hobart, he’s on his way back home now, but in already about three weeks he’ll be back in action at the BNP Paribas Fortis Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Check out our 2015 schedule here.
Emman Damian, I don’t know that. I suppose she’ll wear something else, since brands tend to launch new designs at the AO. Although I don’t have that much experience with Lululemon, but I suppose they’re applying the same strategy.
Will Heather Watson sport the same dress in Australian Open? She is currently wearing a refreshing light blue separates pictured above.