Romanian Monica Niculescu has earnt a Hobart International semifinal spot with a 6-4 6-4 win over Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki in tonight’s feature quarterfinal match on Centre Court.
It is the world No.40 and tournament’s third seed best result in eight visits to Hobart.
Niculescu is the highest-ranked player remaining in the draw – but was forced to fight hard for victory. The No.100-ranked Ozaki secured an early break in the first set, racing to a 2-0 lead. The 29-year-old Romanian showed her trademark grit, quickly pegging it back.
The first five games took close to 30 minutes, with long rallies keeping a large crowd at the Domain Tennis Centre enthralled. Niculescu broke in the seventh game, before serving out the set in 63 minutes.
A off-court medical time-out followed for Niculescu, who was complaining of an abdominal strain. She was visibly hampered on serve when she returned to the court.
“I was serving slow just to protect my ab and instead of having more free points, I had to play every point so it was tough,” she admitted.
That didn’t stop her from racing to a 4-0 lead, continuing to frustrate Ozaki with her exceptional retrieving and tricky slices.
“I had the chance to take that game at 5-0, but I played stupid,” Niculescu lamented. “I put a drop shot in my court.”
Ozaki showed her own fighting spirit to regain the momentum with four consecutive games – and it looked like the match was heading for a third set. But Niculescu had other plans. She broke Ozaki then served out the match after two hours and four minutes.
“She played good, she was not missing,” Niculescu said of her opponent. “I had to run a lot and fight every ball because she was not giving me a present at all.”
“In the second set I was serving pretty slow, so that is why the score was getting worse for me but I’m happy to finish in two.”
Niculescu now plays Ukrainian world No.61 Lesia Tsurenko in tomorrow’s semifinal. The pair have played once before, with Niculescu recording a straight-set win in 2011.