Ellen Perez and Jaimee Fourlis have set up an all-Australian final of the ACT Claycourt International #2 after tough victories over their higher ranked opponents.<\/p>\n
Seventh seed Ellen Perez defeated the number two seed Eri Hozumi from Japan 7-6(3) 7-5 in a tough two-hour battle.<\/p>\n
The Australian was down 5-2 in the first set, but somehow managed to launch a comeback, saving four set points on her way to winning the tight tiebreaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think at 5-2 she even had set points, I kinda thought \u2018oh nothing to lose at this point\u2019, continued going after my shots,\u201d Perez said after the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kinda felt my tennis kind of change a little bit in that 5-2 game, I felt like I was feeling the ball a little better, a little more confident in my shots and as soon as I got that one game I kinda knew I was right back in it with a chance so yeah just a point here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second set was just as tough for Perez, who was serving for the set at 5-3 before Hozumi saved two match points to break back and get it back to 5-5.<\/p>\n
But Perez didn\u2019t stop fighting, breaking Hozumi\u2019s serve at 6-5, then holding her own serve to take out the second set 7-5.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a little bit of a rollercoaster at times, I knew that I had to get the break because I was holding more comfortably that returning but when I was serving out at 5-3 she played a really good game so I just knew at 5-5 I had to get back on it, focus and try to get myself that lead again to serve it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez will face fellow Australian Jaimee Fourlis [8] in Sunday\u2019s final, after Fourlis deated Australian Zoe Hives 6-2 7-5 in a tough match.<\/p>\n
Eighteen-year-old Fourlis started off strongly against Hives, taking out the first set 6-2. But the second set was much tougher, with Hives fighting back and pushing Fourlis, who eventually took the second 7-5.<\/p>\n
Fourlis knew that if she stuck to her game plan she could take out the tight second set.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah of course everyone\u2019s a bit nervous. I did have a couple of opportunities before to serve out the set and she played some really good tennis that I couldn\u2019t really control but I just thought I\u2019d stay calm, stay relaxed, breathe, and just trust myself to be able to close it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew Zoe was going to come out firing, she\u2019s a great player but I just had to stick to my guns and trust myself\u2026 yeah just had to stay patient and just trust the game plan that I had and yeah ended up coming out with the win which I\u2019m really happy about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Fourlis and Perez are looking forward to the final tomorrow, with Fourlis expecting a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201c I think it\u2019s going to be a good match, we both get coached by the same person, we train together, so it\u2019s not like we\u2019re strangers to one another. It\u2019s going to be a very high quality match and we\u2019ll see who wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Entry to the Canberra Tennis Centre is by gold coin donation with the final to commence at 11.00am.<\/p>\n