Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko is into the Hobart International semifinals after edging American Shelby Rogers 4-6 6-4 6-3 in a two hour, 23 minute quarterfinal battle today.
It was a see-sawing match, with multiple momentum swings and nine service breaks. Rogers took the early advantage, winning the first set in 50 minutes.
“I was a little bit confused today with all her winners and serving also, and I was quite nervous about this, but then I just said ‘be relaxed’,” Tsurenko said of her mindset after the first set. “I was really calm in the second and third sets.”
The second set was evenly poised until Tsurenko snapped a streak of four consecutive service breaks to hold in the ninth game and then clinch the set with another break of her own.
Rogers took a medical timeout after the second set and her frustrations were growing as she struggled to gain any momentum. Five double faults in the final set hurt Rogers, as Tsurenko held firm and did not give her 24-year-old opponent any chances to break. Tsurenko got the only break of the final set in the sixth game, helping her to seal a semifinal berth.
“I think the key for me was to keep her as far back as I can,” the 27-year-old Tsurenko said. “Everything I hit in the middle of the court she was just killing, so the main goal for me was to play as deep as I can and just to run, because her ground strokes are quite good and quite heavy.”
This is Tsurenko’s best result in Hobart, having previously lost in qualifying in two previous visits. The world No.61 now meets either third seed Monica Niculescu or qualifier Risa Ozaki in the semifinals.