Lea Van Der Zwalmen books rematch against Claire Fahey for Ladies World Championship title
Van Der Zwalmen's precision defeats Lumley's power in penultimate round
For the third time since 2022, Lea Van Der Zwalmen will challenge Claire Fahey for the Ladies World Championship singles title, confirming her place after defeating Tara Lumley in straight sets in Newport on Wednesday.
With the Ladies World Championship approaching the business end, the fight was on for the right to challenge incumbent champion Claire Fahey for the title. Still left standing were Frenchwoman Lea Van Der Zwalmen and Briton Tara Lumley. As the second seed and defending finalist, Van Der Zwalmen was entering the draw for the first time, having received a bye through the early rounds. Lumley, meanwhile had battled through Jess Garside and Saskia Bollerman to reach the penultimate stage.
The early stages of the match saw plenty of long, drawn out rallies. Van Der Zwalmen was probing with her technically perfect backhands, placing the ball over the net with precision and cut. Lumley pressed back with her double-handed backhand bringing pace to the play. Van Der Zwalmen’s movement around the court was effortless, reading the position and flight of the ball never getting caught off guard. Lumley was repeatedly able to reach deuce throughout the first set, but found it difficult to convert as Van Der Zwalmen was in control of the service end. Van Der Zwalmen won the first set without dropping a game.
Lumley finally broke through in the first game of the second set, helped by a few tight high serves and then drawing Van Der Zwalmen out of position on a long chase. It didn’t last long, though, as Van Der Zwalmen once again took control of the set, seemingly able to find the tambour from anywhere on the court, be it forehand or backhand, straight or cross court. Lumley wouldn’t give in, however, throwing herself into the corners to keep in the rally and forcing Van Der Zwalmen to prove that she could find a winner. More often than not, she could, finding excellent line and length to catch out Lumley. The Briton could only manage one further game as Van Der Zwalmen marched on to the final.
Van Der Zwalmen will play Claire Fahey for the World Championship on Friday. It will be their third meeting following Fahey’s victories in Fontainebleau in 2022 and the Oratory in 2023. It will also be the first time the final will be best-of-5 sets, with all previous Ladies World Championship finals being best-of-3. Before then, Thursday will see the first matches in the doubles draw, with two semi final matches to be played.
Match results:
Wednesday 28 May:
5:00 PM: Lea Van Der Zwalmen def Tara Lumley 6/0 6/2
Upcoming Matches (all times EDT):
Thursday 29 May:
2:00 PM (Doubles Semi Final 1): Claire Fahey & Tara Lumley vs Jo See Tan & Jess Garside
3:30 PM (Doubles Semi Final 2): Nicola Doble & Saskia Bollerman vs Lea Van Der Zwalmen & Margaux Randjbar
Friday 30 May:
5:00 PM (World Championship Challenge): Claire Fahey vs Lea Van Der Zwalmen
Saturday 31 May:
2:00 PM (World Doubles Championship Final): Winner Semi Final 1 vs Winner Semi Final 2