The first semi final of the afternoon featured the defending champion, Emma Beddoes, and the in-form veteran, Lauren Briggs.
The first game was a battle of similar styles, lots of hard cross courts and strong movement from both players. Emma rattled off five points in a row to lead 9-2 and she finished the game off which was much closer than the score suggests.
The second game contained several lets as both players looked to move directly to the ball and often collided. Briggs battled hard in the start but Emma weathered the storm and held on to take a two to love lead.
The third game was really dominated by Lauren, she got an early lead and never relinquished it. The crowd anticipated a hard fought match and the players provided just that. With her back against the wall, Briggs fought to the end but it wasn’t enough to keep Beddoes out of her third consecutive Meadowood Pharmacy Final.
The second seed Line Hansen has been advancing steadily through the tournament; today Hansen faced the auspicious Canadian Sam Cornett.
Line was the more consistent player throughout the first two games, she controlled the pace with her volleys and made hardly any mistakes. Sam was close in the second game, getting the score to 6-8, but Hansen’s patience and hard work saw her claim a two game to love lead. In the final game Cornett looked like she finally got comfortable in the match, finding better location with her length and using some awesome deception with the backhand.
Although Hansen led 6-2, Cornett fought back to tie the game at 8-8. This would be as close as she got; Hansen steadied the ship and held on to take the match in three games.
An impressive tournament from Sam but the second seed proved to be too much. Hansen will play her first Meadowood Pharmacy Open Final tomorrow against the top seed, Emma Beddoes.
By Cam Mundle
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