Grampians Trophy: No final to be contested even as semi-finalists emerge

The semi-finals at the Grampians Trophy have been set. There will be an American derby between Jennifer Brady and Ann Li, while Maria Sakkari will take on Anett Kontaveit in the other semi-final.

The sixth-seeded Kontaveit was the first to book her place in the penultimate round of the event when her quarter-final opponent, third seed Victoria Azarenka opted out of the match.

Sakkari, seeded fifth in the draw, beat eighth seed, Angelique Kerber, in their quarter-final. The German, led by a double break before Sakkari came to her own in the match. The Greek eventually won in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. Sakkari finished with 26 winners to Kerber’s 10 and 22 unforced errors to the three-time Major champion’s 25.

After the match, an elated Sakkari thanked the crowd for supporting her. She said, “I have my Greeks here, which feels great! That’s the first thing I’m looking forward to when I come to Australia, so it was great. Funnily enough, this is my home tournament. I don’t have a professional tournament back home, so as I mentioned, every time I come back to Australia, it feels like I'm at home.”

Grampians Trophy: Final abandoned due to time crunch

In the quarter-final clash between Li and Sorana Cirstea, the American posted a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win. Li had 14 winners and unforced errors each while Cirstea had nine winners and 23 unforced errors. Cirstea broke Li only once in the match while the 20-year-old converted five of the 10 break points she had. Li’s semi-final opponent, the seventh-seeded Brady also won in straight sets against Barbora Krejcikova 7-6(5), 6-4.

On Sunday, only the two semi-finals of the Grampians Trophy will be played. Recent events pertaining to a Covid-19 positive case in Melbourne that forced Thursday’s play to be abandoned in the tournament and the scheduled 8th February start of the Australian Open forced the organisers to cancel the final instead of having the players play twice in one day. As a result, both finalists will receive the finalist’s points and prize money.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/39RJsWe