Following quarterfinal action at the Bendigo International ITF Futures event for women, Olivia Rogowska is the lone Aussie left to fight for the title.
Arina Rodionova who is the top seed, was outclassed by Abigail Tere-Apisah from Papua New Guinea 6-2, 6-1. Isabelle Wallace lost to Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek 6-3, 6-4 and Sara Tomic lost out to Japan’s Mai Minokoshi 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. In an all Australian quarterfinal, Olivia Rogowska moved into the semifinals after Tammi Patterson retired with the score at 6-4, 3-2.
Those results set up the semi matchups with Rogowska facing Tere-Apisah and Zidansek facing Minokoshi. Zidansek is the fourth seed, ranked 187, with Minokoshi sitting at 324 at the time of entries. Rogowska is listed at 226 at the time of entries for the Bendigo tournament although is now ranked at 186, a jump of 40 places following her win last week at the Apis Canberra International.
Semifinal matchups for the Bendigo International
Olivia Rogowska v Abigail Tere-Apisah
Mai Minokoshi v Tamara Zidansek
Tere-Apisah is the only player from Papua New Guinea to be listed in the WTA world rankings, currently ranked at 377. Tere-Apisah was educated in Australia and the USA and played tennis for Georgia State University where she was a two time All-American tennis player in 2012 and 2014. She reached a collegiate national ranking of 8 in singles.
Rogowska and Tere-Apisah played in the final of the Cairns ITF $25,000 final earlier this year. Rogowska took the title with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory. The same two players also met last week in the quarterfinals of the Canberra event, this time Rogowska won 7-5, 7-5 on her way to the title. Tere-Apisah will be ready to pull off the upset and advance to the final and end Rogowska’s domination in the head-to-head which is currently 4-0.
Zidansek has had some good results on the Australian Pro Tour in 2017, she reached the final at Launceston, losing to USA’s Jamie Loeb. She also reached the semifinals in the Perth event and last week in Canberra reached the quarterfinals. Earlier this year Zidansek also won a clay court $25,000 title in Thailand.
Minokoshi has also won a $25,000 level title in 2017, winning in her home country after making the main draw from qualifying.
Looking at recent performances you would expect Zidansek to advance to the final, although Minokoshi would be feeling confident after her run to the semifinals.
Papua New Guinea’s Abigail Tere-Apisah hits a backhand against Australia’s Storm Sanders in round one of the Canberra International tennis event. Tere-Apisah won 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. (Photo by Rob Keating, https://photos.keatingmedia.com.au)
