Kiwi world No 10 into US Open semifinals
AUCKLAND: Kiwi star Joelle King has surged into the semifinals of the US Open tournament in Philadelphia.
The Waikatobased world No 10 edged out English opponent Alison Waters 119, 811, 112, 113 yesterday, proving far too strong in the latter stages.
It is another string in King’s impressive US Open bow, having beaten Milou van der Heijden in the first round before knocking out French third seed Camille Sermie in five sets in Wednesday’s secondround action.
She had not made the US Open final four since 2013.
‘‘Alison was always going to be tough. We were [ranked] four and five in the world for a while, so we had a lot of battles,’’ the 29yearold King said.
‘‘I tried to fight a bit more in the third. I felt a bit tight in the second and kind of lost my way and fell away from the game I like to play.
‘‘I just tried to come back and played my style, and it worked.’’
King, seeded 11th, will now face No 2 seed Raneem El Welily of Egypt, who beat fifthseeded compatriot Nouran Gohar 1113, 117, 1210, 115.
It is El Welily’s fourth US Open semifinal in six years.
In the other semifinal, 10th seed Nour El Tayeb will meet English fourth seed Laura Massaro.
El Tayeb scored an upset 1311, 511, 115, 117 win over world No 1 and fellow Egyptian Nour El Sherbini, while Massaro overcame a slow start to beat Annie Au (Hong Kong) 911, 116, 118, 117. — NZN