Tere-Apisah bows out in Osaka quarters

Sports

PAPUA New Guinea’s Abigail Tere Apisah won four matches in Japan on her first ITF (International Tennis Federation) pro tour tournament of the year.
The 26-year-old was in Osaka and beat players from Japan, China and the US before losing to Serbia’s Ivana Jorovic in the quarterfinal.
“I’m on a four-week tour of Japan for four ITF professional tournaments. My first one was in Osaka last week,” Tere Apisah said.
“I had to win two qualifying rounds to have a spot in the main draw.”
The Pacific Games champion beat Japan’s Nagi Hanatani 6-2, 1-6, 10-7 in her first qualifying match before taking out Akiko Omae also of Japan in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in her second qualifier.
In the main draw Tere-Apisah out-played China’s Fang Ying Xun and the tournament’s sevent seed 6-2, 6-0 in the first round.
The Morobe-Central woman took on American Robin Anderson in the second round and despite finding the going tougher managed to win two sets 7-6, 7-6.
She pushed Serbian Jorovic in the quarterfinal winning the first set before losing 6-3, 3-6, 3-6.
“In my quarterfinal match against Ivana Jorovic, who is currently ranked 108th in the world, I put myself in a situation to win the match after leading 3-0 in the third set,” Tere- Apisah said.
“However, I think in the end her experience and having more match play was just a little better and she came out on top.
“I’m really proud of the way I played this week, it was very solid and aggressive and I hope to continue it this week at the Yokohama ITF Pro Tournament. Yokohama qualifying rounds start Monday,” she said.