Veronica Sotomayor, the 12th seed, upset 4th seed Frédérique Lambert, 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 4-11, 11-7, in the quarterfinals of Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) competition at the 2015 United Healthcare US Open in Minneapolis. The win puts Sotomayor in the US Open semi-finals for the 2nd time in her career. The first was in 2012.
"My serves were awesome today," said Sotomayor afterwards, as evidenced by four aces in game one that helped her get the early advantage.
But Lambert fought back after dropping the first two games, and one wondered whether Sotomayor was too tired to finish off the match, as Lambert clearly had the momentum going into the tie-breaker.
Lambert did take an early 3-1 lead in game five, but Sotomayor dug in and came back to tie the game at 3-3, and then go ahead 5-3. From there Sotomayor never relinquished the lead, although Lambert got within one at 8-7.
Towards the end, Sotomayor's serving heated up again, as she hit an ace and two service winners, including one on match point, as she drove the ball to the left, where Lambert got her racquet on it, but couldn't get it to the front wall.
As Sotomayor said afterwards, "it was a great match."
Sotomayor will hope to play that well in the semi-finals on Saturday, as she'll face LPRT #1 and 4 time defending champion Paola Longoria, who was a winner over Sofia Rascon, 11-8, 11-1, 11-4.
In the other quarterfinals, 2nd seed Maria Jose Vargas defeated Michelle Key, 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8. Early in game four, it looked like Key was going to force a fifth game, as she took a 5-0 lead.
But Vargas worked her way back into the game, and, with three aces in four rallies, went ahead 8-7. She stayed ahead, winning the match when Key skipped a ceiling shot.
Vargas will play 3rd seed Rhonda Rajsich in the semi-finals on Saturday, as Rajsich quickly defeated Samantha Salas, 11-3, 11-1, 11-2.
The semi-final are Saturday at Lifetime Fitness - Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, and can be seen live via the IRT Network.
2015 United Healthcare US Open - LPRT Draws
Minneapolis - October 7-11, 2015
Quarterfinals - Friday
1) Paola Longoria d. 8) Sofia Rascon, 11-8, 11-1, 11-4
12) Veronica Sotomayor d. 4) Frédérique Lambert, 11-4, 11-5, 8-11, 4-11, 11-7
3) Rhonda Rajsich d. 6) Samantha Salas, 11-3, 11-1, 11-2
2) Maria Jose Vargas d. 7) Michelle Key, 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8
Semi-finals - Saturday
1) Paola Longoria v. 12) Veronica Sotomayor - 1:00 PM CDT
2) Maria Jose Vargas v. 3) Rhonda Rajsich - 10 AM CDT
Follow the bouncing ball….
Friday, October 9, 2015
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