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Britain’s Louise Ronaldson made a championship charge for the SAS Junior ITF 1 tournament title, recording her best achievement yet at an international event by reaching Friday’s final against South Africa’s Janet Koch at Coetzenburg, Stellenbosch, on Thursday.
(Click here for live scoring by Altech)
Last year Ronaldson, who is a learner at the Kingston Grammar School in South West London, was bundled out in the first round at Stellenbosch by Koch, who was the top seed at the time.
Following her 7-6 (6) 7-5 semifinal win over Serbia’s eight-seeded Vanja Klaric on Thursday, Ronaldson will meet top seed Koch in Friday’s final. Incidentally, Ronaldson and Koch are also doubles partners, and have reached the doubles final as the third seeded paring.
The Ronaldson-Klaric match-up produced one of the longest matches this week, after each of the sets lasted well over an hour.
Both players battled to come to terms with the conditions which seemed particularly tricky for those playing into the wind.
Ronaldson, 17, was thrilled at reaching her first-ever ITF final. To date her best feat was reaching the quarters in Oslo, Norway, two months ago.
“It’s been a really good tournament for me and I’m pleased I came back this year,” said Ronaldson. “Last year’s tournament was well organised and I decided that I’ll come back this year.
“Janet took me out in last year’s first round, and this time we’ll meet in the final. It is a bit strange meeting here in the championship round because we also play doubles together.
“The match against Vanja was unusually long because both of us made very little mistakes. That made for a tough match, and we both had to work hard for points. I guess I just worked a bit harder in this match.
“In the (first-set) tie-break I managed to run a big 5-1 lead and then I never looked back. In the second set, we both battled to hold serve because the wind had picked up quite a bit. In the end I had one service break more than her, and that made the difference in the end.”
Pieter Hoeksma, tournament referee, said the event was run better than ever, and it’s likely that the ITF will agree to an upgrade next year.
“The officials at Stellenbosch do a great job in running a superbly run tournament,” said Hoeksma. “Last year was a ‘first’ seems and it is clear that the officials have really learnt a great deal from that experience.
“On the evidence of how well the tournament is run it is likely that the ITF may agree up upgrade the event from a Grade 5 to a Grade 4 competition next year. If that happens, the quality of the field will improve a great deal because there will far greater interest from foreign players.
“Already the Stellenbosch organisers have made a massive impression with the visiting contingents. The coach of the British group said that next year their tour contingent will be 16 instead of eight irrespective of the grading.
“The accommodation facilities are superb and visiting countries have been highly impressed with what’s on offer.”
Results of the SAS Junior ITF 1, played at the University of Stellenbosch on Thursday, 17 October 2013: Singles Semi-Finals: 1-Janet Koch (RSA) bt Mina Karamercan (Tur) 6-3 6-2 Louise Ronaldson (GBR) bt 8-Vanja Klaric (Srb) 7-6 (7) 7-5 Doubles: 3-Janet Koch (RSA)/Louise Ronaldson (GBR) bt 1-Nicole Dzenga (Zim)/Marli van Heerden (RSA) 6-4 6-2 Nadine de Villiers/Katie Poluta (RSA) bt Rachel Papavasilopoulos (USA)/Holly Thompson (GBR) 7-5 2-6 10-6
(With editing by gsport)
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