The top seeds in the French Open have demonstrated why they deserve that moniker, following the men’s doubles and women’s singles semi-finals in Paris on Friday. John Lumley and Camden Riviere cemented their status as pre-tournament favourites with a strong win over Ben Taylor-Matthews and Bryn Sayers, while Claire Fahey joined the party without dropping a game against Amy Wintersteen.
The first of the women’s semi-finals was between Amy Wintersteen and World Champion Claire Fahey. Fahey was calm and methodical, conceding just a single point and a single chase across the first five games of the match. Then a series of three racket errors saw Fahey 0-40 down for the first time. She didn’t panic, sticking to her methodical pattern of playing out safe rallies until Wintersteen made an error. Fahey saw out the set and didn’t concede more than a point a game for the rest of the match, winning both sets in 10 minutes each.
The second semi-final was between Kadi Meldrum and Sarah Vigrass. Meldrum was able to extract regular chases out of Vigrass, often by beating her into the corners. Consequently, Vigrass spent plenty of time down the hazard end, becoming a target for Meldrum’s strong backhand. Even so, Vigrass’s experience and shot quality were enough to start quickly piling on games. Every time it went to deuce, Vigrass lifted, refusing to give Meldrum more than a single game in the match. Though the match only lasted thirteen games, it took over an hour to complete as Meldrum battled for every point or chase she could find. Vigrass moved on to the singles final to play her sister, Claire.
The afternoon session saw the first of the doubles semi-finals, starting with the first seeds John Lumley and Camden Riviere playing the third seeds Bryn Sayers and Ben Taylor-Matthews. Riviere took on Sayers’s serve for the first set, immediately getting a chase and holding the service end until the end of the fourth game having conceded just two points during their stint. Eventually, Taylor-Matthews was able to slot a second gallery chase, enough to earn them some time on serve to win a game. Together, Riviere and Lumley had everything covered, and, with Riviere hitting hard ball wherever possible, Taylor-Matthews and Sayers could do little more than dump the ball into the net. By the end of the first set and into the second, Riviere got more brazen with his play, running up the court into ridiculous positions or taking on wild shots, all while hardly putting a ball onto the back wall or penthouse. Lumley sat back in a supporting role, helping starve Taylor-Matthews and Sayers of chases and enabling Riviere to go wild. By the third set, Taylor-Matthews’s fight had evaporated, as Riviere played a number of forces that Taylor-Matthews never picked up. Sayers switched to the back, which bought the pair a couple of games midway through the third set. But it was not enough to stop Lumley and Riviere advancing to the final.
The other semi-final was between the newly formed pair of Robert Shenkman and Vaughan Hamilton and the recently reunited former World Doubles Champions Robert Fahey and Steve Virgona. Fahey opened the match with a high serve to Shenkman which was duly deposited into the dedans. They kept searching for a repeat of that ball over the next few games, not serving themselves until the third game. In general they tried to keep the ball to Fahey, as Virgona tried to tear the cover off any ball that came near him. Shenkman and Hamilton were forced into adopting a defensive setup, with Hamilton dropping back to provide more coverage of the dedans. By then, though, the first set had gotten away from them, as Fahey and Virgona won all but one game.
The second seeds went up 3/1 in the second set, but they were encountering tougher resistance from their opponents. They started to fall a bit flat, unable to sustain the intensity from the first set and with more unforced errors creeping in. The hyper-partisan crowd cheered loudly for every winner or opening struck by Shenkman and Hamilton, as the pair took the next four games. They picked on Fahey, icing Virgona out of the contest. However, as the end of the set drew near, Fahey and Virgona reignited, a couple of winners from Virgona bringing them back into the contest and sending the set into a deciding game. Three different return of serve responses from Fahey set up the key lead, then a few tight Fahey railroads finished the job for a two-set lead.
Despite not winning the set, Hamilton and Shenkman’s run taught them that they were very much in the contest, and they used that confidence to break away first in the third set. Fahey was struggling to sustain his volleying from the back of the court as Shenkman and Hamilton continued to pick on him. They went three games ahead before Virgona stepped up to try and recover the situation. At 30-all in the 5/3 game, playing two chases, Shenkman played a defensive to try and turn the set back in their favour but Hamilton’s two volley errors meant they couldn’t get over the line. Instead, the set went to another deciding game. Four good returns of serve from Shenkman had them on the front foot in each of the rallies but they couldn’t turn it into a decisive advantage. Fahey and Virgona had the first match point, playing chase nine. Finally, Shenkman’s defensive vigil came to an end. Fahey and Virgona moved into the final, earning themselves a day’s break.
The only doubles semi-final was between the Aiken pair of Kadi Meldrum and Claire Voegele, and the newly united duo of Amy Wintersteen and Grace Beglan — Claire Fahey and Sarah Vigrass qualified directly into the final. Beglan and Wintersteen put Beglan at the back, sweeping up all of the returns of serve. Wintersteen was happy to play a supporting role at the galleries as the pair pushed out to a three-game lead. Meldrum was able to pull it back, playing some high-position net volleys combined with some accurate high-serves while Voegele played the anchor at the back. They won five straight games to take the set.
Voegele made her presence felt in the second set, adapting to the play of the court and patrolling the back well. Meldrum provided able assistance with her powerful volleys often resulting in winners as they built a three-game lead. Beglan and Wintersteen fought back for a couple of games but ultimately could not compete as errors crept into their play. After hitting the winning shot, Voegele and Meldrum embraced, moving on to the final to face the Vigrass sisters.
Play continues on Saturday with both the women’s and men’s singles finals. The doubles tournament will conclude on Sunday, also with the men’s and women’s finals.
Match results:
10:00 AM: Claire Fahey (1) def Amy Wintersteen 6/0 6/0
11:30 AM: Kadi Meldrum lost to Sarah Vigrass (2) 1/6 0/6
1:00 PM: John Lumley & Camden Riviere (1) def Bryn Sayers & Ben Taylor-Matthews (3) 6/1 6/0 6/2
4:00 PM: Robert Shenkman & Vaughan Hamilton (4) lost to Steve Virgona & Robert Fahey (2) 1/6 5/6 5/6
7:00 PM: Amy Wintersteen & Grace Beglan lost to Kadi Meldrum & Claire Voegele 4/6 2/6
Order of play for Saturday (all times CEST):
2:30 PM: Claire Fahey (1) vs Sarah Vigrass (2)
4:00 PM: Camden Riviere (1) vs John Lumley (2)