World champion Cornwallis moved a step nearer to a coveted Grand Slam as she outhit rising star Claire Watson of Hampton Court to reach the semi-finals of the British Open Real Tennis championship at Seacourt, Hayling Island. Cornwallis who already holds the French, US and Australian titles, now meets US number 1 Freddy Adam who survived a tense 3-setter with former world doubles champion Alex Garside, the home favourite.
Garside, Seacourt’s top female player, looked unstoppable in the opening set, cutting the ball to an immaculate length on her home court and retrieving superbly as Adam struggled to cope with the fast low-bouncing balls. Once she found her range on her explosive volleys, however, Adam, who suffered an upset at Garside’s hands in 2007, kept her nerve and reversed the result in style. The world’s top junior Claire Vigrass 18, underlined her promise with an imperious victory over the hard-hitting Juliette Lambert of Moreton Morrell. Vigrass, the second seed made good use of her long reach and powerful groundstrokes to prevent Lambert from taking the initiative, to set up an eagerly awaited rematch with her great rival, third seed Karen Hird, 20. Vigrass who lost a thriller to Hird in the French Open is keen to demonstrate her recent improvement. However the diminutive Hird, a junior badminton international, who survived a fine comeback by the gritty Aldona Greenwood from Manchester, is an outstanding tactician with the knack of playing unexpected winners on big points.
Results: Seacourt , Hayling Island. British Open Women’s Real Tennis Championships (names British unless stated)
Quarter-finals
C. Cornwallis beat C. Watson 6-1 6-1
F. Adam (US) beat A. Garside 1-6 6-3 6-0
K. Hird beat A. Greenwood 6.1 6-4
C. Vigrass beat J. Lambert 6-1 6-2
