Top seeds battle it out in Australian Open semi finals

Pridmore and Booth fought hard as Fahey and Taylor-Matthews put on classy perfomance

The doubles semi finals of the Australian Open took place on Sunday at the Hobart Real Tennis Club, with the top seeds in both competitions doing battle to earn a place in Tuesdays final.

The day began with the start of the Women’s doubles competition, with a semi final match between the Australian duo of Jo See Tan and Xanthe Ranger against number 1 seeds Claire Fahey and Saskia Bollerman. Fahey and Bollerman cut a relaxed figure on court, playing a server-up game in a match where they were not expecting to be put under too much pressure. Although Tan was serving some good railroads and generally acquitting herself well, Bollerman and Fahey were able to calmly keep the ball in play and wait for the ineventable error coming from the Australians. The number 1 seeds concluded the match in just over half an hour.

The first Open semi final was between the number 1 seeds Camden Riviere and Chris Chapman and the number 3 seeds Lewis Williams and John Woods-Casey. All four players are notable for their unorthodox shot selection and extravagant play style, and the crowd were treated to some outlandish rallies even in just the first game, making use of all the surfaces available on the Hobart court. However, the quality of Riviere and Chapman was too much for Woods-Casey and Williams, as they were able to stay in the rally for longer and wait until the number 3 seeds made the error. It was always going to be a tough ask for Williams and Woods-Casey, but they played on regardless, smiles on their faces.

The second women’s semi final was a multinational affair, with the Australian-Canadian duo of Ange Green and Jacqueline Siu taking on the French-British pair of Lea Van Der Zwalmen and Jess Garside. Garside and Van Der Zwalmen were the dominant pair on handicap and so it proved on the court. Van Der Zwalmen covered the back of the court, never under pressure, while Garside volleyed well at the galleries. Green warmed into the match by the second set, helping her and Siu to a game midway through the second set.

There was a break of a couple of hours until the cocktail match in the evening between the professional pair of Rob Fahey and Ben Taylor-Matthews against the Hobart amateurs Oliver Pridmore and Kieran Booth. Pridmore, making his Open semi final debut, was nervous early, feeling the need to play the low-percentage shots to finish the points. Booth held his end by hitting hard and fast cut-volleys and forces. They tried keeping the ball away from Fahey by targeting Taylor-Mathews, but the Dorsetine was up to the challenge. By the third game, the amateur pair switched up, hitting to Fahey more but the ex-World Champion was happy to engage in some long and entertaining rallies. They took only game in the fifth game of the match after Fahey took umbridge with some of the more unusual bounces of the Hobart court.

Booth opted to conced the set from the hazard end to elect to switch servers going into the second set, now with Pridmore receiving from Fahey. The change didn’t immediately pay off, dropping the next six points in a row before an error from Fahey. Unlike the last time Taylor-Matthews partnered Fahey eight years prior, this time he was calm and composed and not overawed by the situation, happily mopping up anything Fahey didn’t think he could trigger an applause from the crowd.

After dropping the first two games, Pridmore lifted, finally finding a response to Fahey’s demi-pique. A few lazy shots from Taylor-Matthews and suddenly the Tassie amateurs had a 3-2 lead and the set was on. The professionals had a run at the service end to bounce back to 4-3. The eighth game went to deuce following a series of very long rallies, with Pridmore climbing the wall in front of the grille as the players struggled to find the small targets. Booth took the game and levelled the set with a heavy cut volley to beat a second gallery chase. That chase gave the professionals the serve, which they used to win the next game and a 5-4 lead. Come the tenth game, the amateurs regained the serve but couldn’t capitalise as Booth was searching but could not find the winning gallery.

Fahey and Taylor-Matthews opted to return to the configuration of the first set, with Fahey serving to Booth. Fahey and Taylor-Matthews took an extended bathroom break at the first change of ends, leaving Booth and Pridmore to knock up as though they were playing a singles match. Fahey took some time to strap his calf and change his socks as well, having been playing back for much of the match. The delay lasted 7 and a half minutes, with the Tasmanian pair using it to their advantage by picking up the first three games after the resumption. Fahey and Taylor-Matthews had to fight their way back into the set, holding on to the serve for an extended run to level up at 3-all. A long seventh game followed with several changes of ends, with Fahey blasting balls out of the forehand corner and testing out the amateurs in the grille/tambour corner. The eighth game was even higher quality, with Fahey exhibiting a tambour boast in the middle of a 75 second rally. Taylor-Matthews wrapped the match in a bow finding their first and only grille on match point.

Match results:

• Claire Fahey & Saskia Bollerman (1) def Jo See Tan & Xanthe Ranger 6/0 6/0

• Camden Riviere & Chris Chapman (1) def Lewis Williams & John Woods-Casey (3) 6/1 6/2 6/1

• Ange Green & Jacqueline Siu lost to Jess Garside & Lea Van Der Zwalmen (2) 0/6 1/6

• Kieran Booth & Oliver Pridmore (4) lost to Ben Taylor-Matthews & Robert Fahey (2) 1/6 4/6 3/6

Order of play for Monday (all times AEDT):

• 5pm (Women’s final): Claire Fahey (1) vs Lea Van Der Zwalmen (2)

• followed by (Open final): Camden Riviere (1) vs Kieran Booth (6)