Saret sets up quarters clash vs Thai

Filipino wild card Jennifer Saret demolished compatriot Kristel Samala, 4-0, 4-0, 4-0, yesterday to join the three remaining seeds in the quarterfinals of the Union Cement International Tennis Federation-Philippine Women’s Futures Week 1 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

The four-time PCA Open champion Saret advanced against Thailand Fed Cup team mainstay Wilawan Choptang, who beat Japanese Naoko Horikawa, 4-1, 2-4, 4-2, 1-4, 4-1.

World’s No. 317 and second seed Korean Chae Kyung-Yee stamped her class over local wild card Czarina Mae Arevalo, 4-2, 4-1, 4-0, to arrange a quarterfinal meeting with Japanese Miho Saeki.

Saeki won over compatriot Madoka Suzuki, 4-1, 4-0, 4-1.

Seventh seed Korean Kim Jin-Hee rallied from a two-set deficit and marched into the next round after Japanese Remi Uda gave up in the fifth set due to exhaustion. The score was 1-4, 1-4, 4-2, 4-2, 2-0 (ret.)

Kim, currently No. 673 in the world, will next play Indon Romana Tedjakusuma, who defeated American Jennifer Fiers, 4-2, 4-0, 4-1.

In the other match, No. 8 Jennifer Schmidt of Austria downed Taiwanese Chao Hsiao-Han, 5-4 (0), 4-2, 5-3, to forge a quarterfinal showdown with Indian Shruti Dhawan, who won over Indon Dea Sumantri, 4-2, 4-1, 4-1, in this US$10,000 tournament also sponsored by PSC, Wilson ball, Manila Midtown Hotel and Viva Mineral Water.

In the women’s doubles category, Tedjakusuma and Wongkamalasai downed American pair Audrey banada and Dianne Matias, 4-1, 3-5, 5-3, while Chao and Fiers won by default over Uda and Saeki to reach the second round.