Friday, July 13, 2001
New names in Met tennis semifinals
Yarrell, Luzhanka continue run of upsets
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Isaac Yarrell and Tanya Luzhanka continue to be upset king and queen of the Thomas E. Price Metropolitan Tennis Championship.
Defending champ Jeff Wolf had to rally after losing the first set
(Mike Simons photo)
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Seeded No. 12, Yarrell eliminated No. 3 Jason Yeager on Tuesday and followed with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over No. 8 Tracy Epperson Thursday night to reach Saturday's semifinals.
In another upset, No.6-seeded Jason Zimmermann, the Division II state singles champion from Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, ousted No.4 Brett DeCurtins 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.
A first-time participant, the 16-year-old and unseeded Luzhanka pulled off a second upset, besting No.4 Kimberly Jones-Schaefer 6-0, 6-2 en route to Saturday's semifinals against Emelia Anderson, the defending champion.
The Molony sisters, Lyndsey and Kara Molony-Hus sey, will play each other for the second consecutive year in the semifinals. Both won Thursday night.
A sophomore at the University of Cincinnati, Lyndsey defeated Brooke Hart 6-2, 2-6, 6-0. Kara was too strong and consistent for Christie Brannon.
Defending men's champion Jeff Wolf rallied from a first-set loss to defeat Ball State's No.1 singles player, Jason Pressel, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a match that took more than two hours.
Rey Puentes, the No. 2 seed and last year's runner-up, eliminated Amin Nabli 6-2, 6-2 to round out the men's final four in the semifinals.
“I was up 3-2 in the first set when I broke, which seemed to turn the match,” Yarrell said. “I'm playing like I was playing at the end of the college season.”
Showing little or no emotion during the match, Yarrell played flawlessly, committing fewer than five unforced errors while frustrating Epperson, a teaching professional.
Luzhanka was in control in the first set but suffered a letdown early in the second before finishing it off with four straight games.
“I made some unforced mistakes in the second set,” Luzhanka said. “I just wanted to get back and start playing my game.”
It appeared a major upset was in the making after Pressel won the first set from Wolf. But Wolf, the 35-year-old teaching professional, reversed the trend in the second set and dominated in the third.
“It was like a blur after I broke Jason's serve to start the second set,” Wolf said. “I decided I wasn't going down without a battle. I'm happy I had a match like this to find out what I had.”
Lyndsey Molony played error-free tennis in the first and third sets against Hart, a former two-time state champion at Anderson, setting up the return match with her sister.
“I was looking forward to playing Kara last year,” Molony said. “We hit a lot together, but we haven't played since then. She knows exactly what to do against me.”
SCHEDULE: The men's and women's doubles championships are the only matches on tonight's schedule. They will be played simultaneously beginning at 6:30 p.m.
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