HAILEY BAPTISTE REACHES SHOEBACCA WOMEN’S OPEN SEMIFINALS
WITH THREE-SET VICTORY OVER SECOND SEEDED OLGA DANILOVIC Top Seed Yanina Wickmayer Avoids Elimination to Advance to Semifinals
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. – (February 27, 2020) – American Hailey Baptiste pulled off the surprise of the day at the Shoebacca Women’s Open as she dismissed second-seeded Olga Danilovic of Serbia with a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 quarterfinal victory at Morgan Run Club & Resort.
After dropping the first set, Baptiste, who now lives and trains in Orlando, Fla., rebounded to win the second set to even the match after scoring a key service break in the sixth game. In the third-set, Baptiste took control as the teenager swept six consecutive games to close out the match in one-hour and 55 minutes.
“I was a little shaky in the first set. I wasn’t playing my best tennis. It took me a little while to adjust to the way she plays. She has a good serve and places it well. She does a good job of opening up the court,” said Baptiste, who is ranked No. 249 in the Women’s Tennis Association singles rankings.
“Luckily, I played two lefties in the previous rounds, so I was used to the lefty serve. I just had to keep in the points and keep fighting. Eventually in the third set, I started controlling the points,” Baptiste added. “I came here to try and win this (tournament), so I’m on the right path. I’ve been playing pretty well. I’m feeling confident, so I’m excited to play my next match.”
The 18-year-old Baptiste will play third-seeded Xiaodi You of China in the second semifinal match of the day on Friday.
Top-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium overcame the loss of the first set and staged an impressive comeback as she dispatched American Jamie Loeb 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 in a hard-hitting quarterfinal that took one-hour and 50 minutes to complete.
Wickmayer will meet fifth-seeded Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia in the first semifinal on Friday at 10 a.m. (PST) on Court No. 1.
For Friday’s Order of Play, click here. For the latest Tournament Draws, click here.
The starting times for each day of the Shoebacca Women’s Open are as follows: Friday, February 28 – 10 a.m. (PST) Saturday, February 29 – TBA
(Starting Times Subject to Change)
Past tournament participants include American stars Madison Keys, Sofia Kenin, Danielle Rose Collins, CiCi Bellis, defending singles champion Nicole Gibbs, and current Rancho Santa Fe resident CoCo Vandeweghe. Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, the reigning US Open champion, won the tournament singles title in Rancho Santa Fe in 2017.
$25,000 Shoebacca Women’s Open Morgan Run Club & Resort Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Thursday’s Results
Singles Quarterfinals
Hailey Baptiste, United States, def. Olga Danilovic (2), Serbia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
Yanina Wickmayer (1), Belgium, def. Jamie Loeb, United States, 4-6, 6-0, 6-0
Rebecca Sramkova (5), Slovakia, def. Diane Parry, France, 7-5, 6-2
Xiaodi You (3), China, def. Francoise Abanda, Canada, 6-4, 7-5
Doubles
Semifinals
Kayla Day and Sophia Whittle, United States, def. Olga Danilovic and Jovana Jovic, Serbia, 3-6, 6-3, [10-8]
Eudice Wong Chong, Hong Kong, and Xiaodi You (2), China, def. Hailey Baptiste and Claire Liu, United States, 2-6, 6-4, [10-8]
