Two emerging talents from the Americas on the WISPA Tour arrived in the Riviera Principality of Monaco for the first time bidding to reach the main draw of the Monte Carlo Classic.

CENTRAL AMERICAN EXPECATIONS
Expectations were high as both Samantha Teran and Nicolette Fernandes had successfully negotiated the qualification of the World Open in Belfast. Indeed, they had beaten seeds to get through to the last 16.

Here Fernandes, conqueror of sixth seed Jenny Duncalf in Belfast, simply couldn’t snuff out the challenge of Italian Manuela Manetta who had reached the final of the Meersquash Open last month. Though she tried hard to break the resistance of the 23 year old from Palma with her all court game, Manetta’s durability has grown over the last year. It became a totally engrossing match featuring strong rallying and the sideshow of Manetta’s delightfully expressive self berating and requests to the referee! The Guyanese manages her geeing up in a wonderous lilt, but she has also married a great improvement to her game whilst being based in Harrogate with England coach David Pearson.   

... Twice Fernandes looked to have closed out the match... (photo © 2006 WISPA)

Twice Fernandes looked to have closed as she served for the match at 9/8 in the fourth, but both times the Italian saved with a great length before going on to level the match with a short forehand volley drop that rolled.

Fernandes seemed to have lost her way when she went down 0/5 in the decider, but clawed her way back to 3/5 before missing the soccer equivalent of a yawning open goal, tinning when the court was at her mercy, an error which she never recovered from.

It was no surprise to Fernandes that it was tough as she has beaten the same opponent in a tight 3/1 at the Qatar Airways Challenge in July – a match that both players felt could have gone either way.

Fernandes was quick to praise her opponent this time, saying “Manuela played really well and she forced me onto the defensive. I could only win a couple of rallies at a time, not a flow of points”. Adding, “At key stages of the game I made silly errors and it is really disappointing to end the year on a low note. But that’s a career in squash for you!”

Mauela Manetta - elated after qualifying. (photo © 2006 WISPA)

Manetta was understandably elated after this rousing win. “I played better than I expected but I knew it would be tough after our last matches. For me this is a good result because the main draw is really strong and it is an honour for me to be part of it”

Mexican Teran faced a stern task against top seed Rebecca Botwright but her fast paced game caused problems for her English opponent and she is ending her European odyssey on another high after the World Open where she was the beneficiary of a neck injury sustained by Engy Kheirallah in the first round to add icing to her qualification.

“Before I came on this trip my goal was to qualify for the World Open and at Monte Carlo so I am pleased. It has been the first time I have been so far from home for so long” said the 25 year old from Mexico City. “I arrived ten days before the World Open and really wanted to end the year improving my level”.

BOTWRIGHT FALLS TO TERAN
Botright summed up her dismal evening saying “I started off well but then got dragged into her game and started making too many errors”. A fair summary.

So while Fernandes failed in an evening of big tussles, Teran had kept the Americas going. And she was followed into the main draw by a Canadian, Runa Reta.

Neat and tidy Reta probably wouldn’t have expected to have to apply herself so hard to deal with the problems posed by Line Hansen, but the 23 year old Dane looked fit and strong, hitting the ball well and picking up a lot of balls. Hansen romped home in the first and was 5/0 up in the second before Reta began to get her measure. The Canadian crept home in the next two games but began to make mistakes with her deceptive flicks at the front and allowed Hansen to level before running out of steam at the end of the 83 minute match. As the winner put it, “Line started well and she wasn’t giving me anything until I tried to slow the pace and set the tone myself”.

England’s Sarah Kippax took the final place by beating 17 year old French player Camille Serme, a bright star in the European junior scene and the last local player in the qualification. Starting slowly, Kippax looked uncertain but she soon found a good groove and controlled the play.

Once the first emotion of relief subsided, Kippax paid tribute to the maturity  of her opponent. “She is a clever player with good shot selection and caught me a lot at the front before I settled down with a deeper length. For her age she definitely has great potential” she added.

The four winners now join a field headed by 2004 world champion Vanessa Atkinson and Natalie Grinham who came so close to winning the title only a little over a week ago in Northern Ireland. But the main draw Monte Carlo Classic battles to come are likely to be no more intense that the wars waged tonight to reach it.

11th MONTE CARLO CLASSIC
MONACO
RESULTS
QUALIFICATION – ROUND 2
Runa Reta (Can) (2) bt Line Hansen (Den) (7) 5/9 9/7 9/7 7/9 9/0 (83m)
Sarah Kippax (Eng) (3) bt Camille Serme (Fra) (8) 3/9 9/4 9/0 9/7 (42m)
Manuela Manetta (Ita) (6) bt Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) (4) 6/9 9/1 6/9 10/9 9/4 (95m)
Samantha Teran (Mex) (5) bt Rebecca Botwright (Eng) (1) 4/9 9/3 9/7 9/0 (53m