"I was really pleased to come through the match," said Laura Massaro (ri) after her semi-final success against Camille Serme (le), which was lasting 90 minutes (pic: Marian Kraus). England’s world No2 Laura Massaro (ri) survived her longest match for more than 6 years when she overcame French rival Camille Serme (le) in a dramatic 5-game Women’s semi-final at the Windy City Open in Chicago. The 11-9, 12-14, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 victory in 90 minutes marks Massaro’s third longest match of all-time – but the longest since the women’s game went point-a-rally (PAR) in 2008.
The top seed will face 2nd seed Raneem El Welily after the world No3 from Egypt despatched New Zealander Joelle King in straight games. By contrast, El Welily reached the 18th Tour final of her career – and her first of the year – in just 30 minutes, defeating No4 seed King 12-10, 11-8, 11-7 (pic: Marian Kraus).
Final line-up (head-to-heads):
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) – (11:7)
Semi-finals:
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [7] Camille Serme (FRA) 11-9, 12-14, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 (90m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [4] Joelle King (NZL) 12-10, 11-8, 11-7 (30m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt Annie Au (HKG) 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7 (51m)
[7] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [3] Alison Waters (ENG) 11-4, 14-12, 11-6 (45m)
[4] Joelle King (NZL) bt [Q] Emma Beddoes (ENG) 11-3, 10-12, 11-5, 9-11, 11-2 (74m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [5] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (33m)
1st round:
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [Q] Emily Whitlock (ENG) 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 (34m)
Annie Au (HKG) bt [8] Kasey Brown (AUS) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (31m)
[3] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [Q] Joey Chan (HKG) 11-8, 11-7, 11-5 (30m)
[7] Camille Serme (FRA) bt Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 12-10 (57m)
[Q] Emma Beddoes (ENG) bt [6] Madeline Perry (IRL) 11-9, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8 (52m)
[4] Joelle King (NZL) bt [WC] Aisling Blake (IRL) 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (24m)
[5] Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 12-14, 11-6 (80m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [Q] Sarah Kippax (ENG) 12-14, 9-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 (52m)
