Top seed Jones gains ITF semis

Top seed Sacha Jones of New Zealand and seventh pick Ayu-Fani Damayanti of Indonesia turned back their respective rivals yesterday to advance to the semifinal round of the PLDT-Smart ITF Women’s Circuit Week 2 championship at the Rizal Tennis Center.

The 18-year-old Jones, who was booted out in the second round in Week One of the circuit, kept her title bid alive as she wore down fifth seed Lavinia Tananta of Indonesia in the second set to fashion out a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory and reach the finals.

Tananta’s hard-fought wins over Australian Cassandra Barr, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round and Korean qualifier Yoo Mi, 7-6 (12), 6-2, in the next somehow took their toll on the Indonesian as she ran out of gas against Jones.

Damayanti, who fell short of her title drive last week, proved steadier than French qualifier Elodie Rogge-Dietrich as she hacked out a 7-5, 6-4 win to remain in the hunt for the crown in the tournament sponsored by PLDT and Smart.

“I was a little bit tired because I’ve been playing for nearly two weeks now,” said Damayanti.

“But I didn’t think about it when I’m on the court, I just played my game,” said the Bali native who hopes to celebrate her 20th birthday on Nov. 29 with a singles victory here.

The pair of triumphs set Jones and Damayanti against giant-slayers Kang Seo Kyung of Korea and Jessy Rompies of Indonesia in today’s semifinal round.

Kang upended No. 8 Li Ting of China, 6-4, 6-4, while Rompies, one of Indonesia’s top junior netters, stunned RP bet Anna Christine Patrimonio’s Japanese conqueror No. 4 Yumi Nakano, 6-1, 6-2.

“She’s one of our top junior players back home but I’ve beaten her three times,” said Damayanti of her 18-year-old semis opponent.       – Joey Villar