Upsets rock Mitsubishi Int'l Jr Championship

MANILA, Philippines -- Upsets continue to rock the 25th Mitsubishi International Junior Tennis Championships as top seeds Katie Boulter of Great Britain and Harry Bourchier of Australia were shown the door in the semifinals Saturday at the Rizal Tennis Center.

Third seed Kimberly Birrell of Australia bounced back from a first set defeat by ousting Boulter, whose World No. 10 ranking fares better than the former's No. 33, in a gripping 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) win that lasted exactly two hours to barge into the finals of the girls' division.

Fourth pick Kang Ku Keon of South Korea caused the tremors in the boys' side by pulling the rug from under the heavily favored Bourchier thanks to a first set tiebreaker he took to eke out a 7-6(5), 6-3 triumph.

It was Birrell's first finals appearance in a Grade 1 tournament, a level only one notch under the Junior Grand Slam, following a pair of quarterfinal efforts in Grade 1 events in Malaysia and Thailand the last two weeks.

It was also Birrell's second win in three outings with Boulter after losing the first also via the full, three-set route in Korea last year and winning the next two including a straight set win back home in Australia early this year.

"I practically knew what to expect against her (Boulter) going into this match and needed to be more aggressive to win," said the 15-year-old Queensland native, whose biggest performance to date was a semifinal finish in the Australian Open last January.

Birrell will gun for her first ever title as she tackles No. 14 Gloria Liang of Canada, who booked the other finals slot by downing No. 15 Raveena Kingsley of the United States, 6-3, 6-4, in a victory that took her only an hour and 15 minutes.

"I'm feeling good with my win today (yesterday), hopefully  I could win it," said Birrell.

Fatigue has probably took its toll on the power-hitting Boulter, who has won three three-setters going into the semis before falling on the fourth with this stinging defeat at the hands of Birrell.

Kang, for his part, will tangle with unseeded Rhett Purcell of Great Britain, who added No. 8 Bogdan Bobrov of Russia to his long list of big fishes he caught with a quick, merciless 6-0, 6-1 victory.

Purcell's other seeded victims included No. 5 Chung Yunseong and No. 11 Alexander Klintcharov of New Zealand.