DFS Classic: South falls in quarters
Originally published on 26/02/10 11:04
Melanie South’s bid to reach the semi-finals of the DFS Classic at the Edgbaston Priory Club ended with defeat against 18-year-old Yanina Wickmayer.
South had lead 4-2 in the first set but Wickmayer stepped up her game, winning four straight games to claim the first set.
The Brit fought off break points in the game 6 of the second set to mantain parity at 3-3, but Wickmayer again pressured the South serve in game 8, breaking to lead 5-3 before serving out the match.
South, only the third British woman to ever reach the tournament’s quarter-finals, and the first in 16 years, came into the match on the back of a difficult third round encounter against No.17 seed Aiko Nakamura on Thursday. The 22-year-old from Surrey had to recover from a poor start to emerge with a 2-6 6-4 6-4 win.
Wickmayer will now face Bethanie Mattek in the semi-finals, after the American stunned world No.19 Nicole Vaidisova 6-3 6-0 in just 52 minutes.
Ukraine’s Bondarenko sisters couldn’t quite set up a sisterly semi-final showdown after both reaching the last 8. Kateryna, No.12 seed, defeated Russia’s Petra Cetkovska, but No.5 seed Alona went out to Marina Erakovic.
