Sacha Jones has climbed two spots to a career best number 13 in the ITF 18 and under World Rankings after winning the Thailand Open last week. Sacha is currently playing the Asia/Oceania Closed Championships in Bangkok where she beat lucky loser Tanunya Nelson (Tha) 6-0 6-0 in the first round. Sacha is seeded second behind world number five ranked junior Ayumi Morita from Japan.
Marina Erakovic has jumped from 219 to a career best WTA ranking of 178 after winning the tournament in Beijing last week. She will be seeking to go higher this week in Shanghai at another US$50000 event where she has been drawn to play wildcard entrant Ren Jing in the opening round.
Marina Erakovic has captured her first US$50000 tournament title in Beijing, China by easily defeating Alla Kudryavtseva (Rus) 6-2 6-1 in a one-sided final yesterday. In recent weeks Marina has won two US$25000 events and with the addition of her latest victory, her WTA ranking will move from 219 to around the 175-180 mark. As well as the WTA points and the prize-money earned this week, Marina will receive entry into the main draw of a designated WTA Tier 3 or 4 tournament at the discretion of the WTA and the ITF. With no ranking points to defend for a few months, Marina is well positioned to climb a lot further in the rankings, particularly if she maintains her current winning form. Auckland Tennis sincerely congratulate Marina on her tremendous success and no doubt the New Zealand public look forward to seeing her in action at the 2007 ASB Classic in Auckland.
Just days before her sixteenth birthday, Sacha Jones has won the ITF Thailand Open in convincing fashion. Untroubled throughout the entire week, Sacha needed less than an hour to subdue Australia’s top junior Jessica Moore 6-0 6-2 and add the title to her growing list of successes. Auckland Tennis warmly congratulate Sacha on her achievement and wish her well for the Asia/Oceania Closed Championships this week.
Marina Erakovic has easily beaten former top twenty player Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzb) 6-1 6-1 to advance to the semi-finals of the US$50000 Women’s Circuit tournament at Beijing. She plays Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) for a place in the final. After struggling on the European claycourts for several months this year, Marina has bounced back recently to win sixteen of her last seventeen matches including tournament wins in Holland and Australia. Her rise in confidence is mirrored by a rise up the WTA ranking charts into the top 200 for the first time. Marina is also through to the final of the doubles.
Sacha Jones is through to the final of the Thailand Open after a routine 6-4 6-3 victory over Varatchaya Wongteanchai from Thailand. Sacha, who earlier this year won the Oceania Closed title in Fiji, will play Jessica Moore (Aus) for the title. A tournament win this week will see her edge closer to the top ten in the ITF 18 and under world rankings.
Top seed Sacha Jones is through to the last four of the ITF Thailand Open. Jones beat Kanyapat Narattana (Tha) 6-0 6-3 in the second round and backed up with a decisive 6-1 6-1 scoreline over Emiko Ito in the quarter-finals. Sacha plays eighth seed Varatchaya Wongteanchai (Tha) for a place in the final.
