CHANGES at the top are rare in Irish women's tennis, especially where Lesley O'Halloran is concerned. The semi finals of the Pamela Scott sponsored Irish Open Indoor Championships at Riverview yesterday saw her at her erratic worst.
Her opponent in this instance, Claire Curran, had the good sense to wait for the downside of O'Halloran's game to manifest itself. The waiting game for Curran lasted approximately a set, before the tide turned for her to take victory 2-6 6-4 6-4 in a match lasting over two hours.
O'Halloran's first set of pounding forehands, forecourt assertiveness and general panache simply had to be admired. She took that set in less than a half an hour. But then, Curran countered with a well devised and astutely applied strategy: "I managed to mess herb up a bit by slowing the pace and chipping to keep the ball in court," she said.
O'Halloran's powerhouse serve and volley game which gave her control early on was eventually reduced to something far less. By the time Curran was serving for the match O'Halloran had lost belief in herself. However she managed to save three match points bravely before succumbing.
Surprisingly, she remarked: "A tournament like this is only a vague incentive for me. I find it difficult now to be fully committed, and between this and injuries I am thinking of giving it all up".
Curran faces top seed Yvonne Doyle, who beat Emma Doyle 6-4, 6-0 in the other semi final, in today's final at 1.00 p.m. Owen Casey, as predicted, cruised through to today's final by sending David Mullins packing, 6-1, 6-1. But the big disappointment of the day was the collapse of the other men's semi final when the number two seed, Robert Collins, had to withdraw because of an aggravated shoulder injury.
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