Melbourne Park, 16 December 2010 | Tim Rose
The Australian Open Play-off has wrapped up for Day 3 at Melbourne Park, with semifinalists decided in both sides of the draw. Today saw the final round-robin matches played in the women’s draw, with one player from each group of four winning through.
The men’s knockout quarterfinals were held this afternoon, with Adam Feeney the bolter, defeating James Duckworth on his way to the semifinals, having eliminated third seed Carsten Ball yesterday. Second seed Marinko Matosevic continued his inconspicuous run through the draw, disposing of Greg Jones in straight sets.
In the women’s match of the day, Olivia Rogowska defeated Jess Moore in straight sets. With both players undefeated heading into the final round-robin match of their group, only the winner would continue in their quest for an Australian Open wildcard.
Games remained on serve early in the first set, before Moore was able to break a shaky Rogowska service game. Serving for the set however, Moore had no answers to some blistering groundstrokes that saw Rogowska level at 5-all.
An aggressive Rogowska tore through the next game, dominating points and then pressuring Moore’s next service game with heavy hitting. A double fault gave Rogowska the first set and the clear momentum heading to the second.
She broke early and looked headed for a comfortable straight sets win. Moore broke back but couldn’t capitalise, a poor drop shot and a handful of Rogowska winners reasserted her lead.
Another winner sealed the match and her path to the semifinals.
“Jess is a friend and it’s tough playing a friend. I played really well and concentrated really hard, especially in that first set when I was losing, so I was really happy that I stayed composed,” she said after the victory.
“Last year I got to the final, so I’d love to go one step further this year,” she said, referring to her three set loss to Casey Dellacqua in last year’s final, where she held match points.
Jones and Matosevic didn’t get to onto court until almost 5pm, and the first set ensured there would be no early finish. Games remained on serve, with many games pushing out to deuce with neither playing offering many chances.
Serving at 4-5 it was Jones that faltered, gifting the set with a backhand error.
After a medical time out at the set’s completion which saw Jones receive treatment on his toe, Matosevic continued on his way. He broke Jones at 3-2 with a brilliant cross court lob and sealed the win 6-4 6-2 with another break of serve.
In other women’s matches, Ashling Sumner was forced to retire against Monika Wejnert while down a set and 3-0, meaning that the winner of group B would be decided by the result of the Sophie Ferguson – Isabella Holland match on court 7.
A win to Ferguson would guarantee her path to the semifinals, while a loss would see the calculators needed to decide who of Ferguson and Wejnert had won the most sets and then games.
As it turned out, Ferguson grabbed the chance that was in front her, defeating the recent Optus 18s champion Holland in straight sets. It completed a fine day for Ferguson, who was also called up to the Fed Cup squad this morning.
The women’s semifinals were drawn after the final match of the day, with top two seeds Alicia Molik and Ferguson placed in separate semifinals.
In a dream semifinal, Molik will take on an in form Jelena Dokic, while Ferguson is up against Rogowska.
With tomorrow a rest day, top seed Peter Luczak will take on Matt Ebden after their wins this morning and the in-form Matosevic is up against Feeney in Saturday’s other semifinals.
Day 3, Thursday 16 December – Results
Women
[7] Sophie Letcher def. Jade Hopper 6-3 6-2
[1] Alicia Molik def .Alison Bai 3-6 6-3 6-1
Viktorija Rajicic def. Nina Catovic 6-1 2-1 (ret.)
[3] Jelena Dokic def. Tammi Patterson 7-5 2-6 6-3
Monika Wejnert def. Ashling Sumner 6-3 3-0 (ret)
[5] Olivia Rogowska def. [4] Jess Moore 7-5 6-3
[2] Sophie Ferguson def. [8] Isabella Holland 7-5 6-3
Azra Hadzic def. Belinda Woolcock 6-4 6-4
Men
[1] James Duckworth def. [9] James Lemke 6-3 7-6(5)
[4] Matthew Ebden def. [8] Sam Groth 2-6 6-4 6-2
[2] Marinko Matosevic def. [7] Greg Jones 6-4 6-2
Adam Feeney def. James Duckworth 6-2 7-5
Saturday 18 December – Semifinals
Women
[1] Alicia Molik vs. [3] Jelena Dokic
[2] Sophie Ferguson vs. [5] Olivia Rogowska
Men
[1] Peter Luczak vs. [4] Matt Ebden
[2] Marinko Matosevic vs. Adam Feeney
