Saret succumbs to Thai opponent

The Philippines ran out of bets in the Union Cement ITF Philippine Women’s Circuit as Jennifer Saret dropped a tight four-setter to Thailand’s Wilawan Choptang at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center yesterday.

Choptang, a 17-year-old native of Bangkok, displayed raw power and resiliency in booting out Saret, 4-1, 1-4, 4-2, 4-2, in a match that lasted for a little over two hours.

Choptang advanced to the semifinals against wildcard Romana Tedjakusuma of Indonesia, a 4-1, 4-1, 4-0 upset winner over seventh seed Kiam Jin-Hee of South Korea.

"I’ve had many chances but I just couldn’t take advantage of it. Nevertheless, I’m happy with my performance and hopefully, I could get back in shape with more games," said Saret, who reached the quarters following victories over fellow RP entries Deena Rose Cruz and Kristal Samala.

Upset was the order of the day in the $10,000 tourney with other unheralded bets in Miho Saeki of Japan and Shruti Dhawan of India also booking a seat in the Final Four.

Saeki outlasted No. 2 Chae Kyung-Yee of South Korea, 4-1, 4-5 (6-8), 4-1, 4-2, while Dhawan trounced eighth seed Jennifer Schmidt of Austria, 4-1, 4-2, 4-1.

The semifinal round starts with Choptang playing Tedjakusuma at 9 a.m. today. Saeki and Dhawan square off afterwards. – Joey Villar