Arina Rodionova has kept her hopes of reaching the main draw of the Australian Open alive by fighting her way past Olivia Tjandramulia 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, in the wildcard Playoffs.
The top seed struggled in her quarter-final encounter against world No.397 Tjandramulia at Melbourne Park. Fighting back from a second set bagel to prevail after 130 minutes of play. The lacklustre performance was one criticised by Rodionova herself, who described her match as ‘two out of 10.’
“The match was a two out of 10,” the 27-year-old told The Australian Associated Press (AAP).
“I’m in the middle of my training week and also playing this tournament and I didn’t feel the best when I woke up and was pretty sore and needed some painkillers to get through the morning.
“I started well and had enough energy to play aggressive and use my weapons but then I just died a bit in the second set and my legs were dead and I couldn’t do what I do best, which is moving.
“I went away for nine games but I’m glad I managed to get back in time to still win the match.”
Rodionova, Who is currently ranked 120th in the world, is bidding to reach the main draw in Melbourne for only the fourth time in her career. She is yet to win a WTA title, but has won eight trophies on the ITF circuit. The most recent occurring at a $25,000 tournament in Perth last year.
In the semi-finals, the top seed will take on Tammy Patterson. A Melbourne-born player, who won her first ITF singles title earlier this year in Tokyo, Japan. Patterson also struggled in her match, battling past Naiktha Bains 6-3 4-6 6-4. The 27-year-old is aiming to reach the main draw of a grand slam for only the second time in her career (in singles) after her debut at the 2016 Australian Open.
“It was real high quality tennis,” Patterson told Tennis Australia following her win. “Naiktha came out swinging and I knew she would. She put me under a lot of pressure and I knew I would have to lift my game to get through.”
In the other half of the draw, second seed Destanee Aiava overcame a mid-match blip to defeat Zoe Hives 6-2, 5-7, 6-0. 17-year-old Aiava made headlines back in January by defeating Bethanie Mattek Sands in the first round of the Brisbane International. Since then, she has climbed up the rankings to a current position of 153rd with the help of two ITF titles.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Aiava said. “The match was very up and down in the second set, but I knew I was physically strong and mentally strong when I put my mind to it, so I’m really happy to get through.”
Aiava will next take on Kimberly Birrell, who eased her way past Alexandra Bozovic 6-4, 6-1.
The semi-final matches will take place on Saturday.
