Two Australian’s will meet in the final of the 2010 McDonalds Burnie International after Greg Jones and Bernard Tomic both recorded straight sets victories in their semi-final clashes.
Jones was on top of his opponent, Japan’s Yuichi Sugita, from the outset breaking Sugita’s serve in the second game. Jones’s big first serve was getting him out of trouble serving 3 aces in a row in the third game to consolidate the break and lead 3-0. Games went on serve for the rest of the set with Jones remaining solid on serve and hitting big forehands to keep Sugita on the back foot.
The second set was much of the same with Jones getting the early break in the third game to lead 2-1. Jones was still serving big and kept the pressure on Sugita from the back of the court and was finishing the points when he ventured to the net. Jones then broke Sugita in the ninth game on his first match point to win 6-3 and progress to the final.
In the other semi-final, Bernard Tomic was slow to start again losing his serve in the first game of the match. Tomic was feeling the effects of his busy schedule yesterday when he played two long three set matches. Sirianni’s backhand was doing some damage early going up 2-0. Tomic broke back in the third game to put the match back on serve but still seemed to be struggling. Tomic called for the trainer at the change of ends but didn’t seem to receive any treatment. In the sixth game, Sirianni survived seven break points to hold at 4-2 and was looking likely to take the first set.
But Tomic was not finished with yet, breaking in the eighth game and holding to lead 5-4. Sirianni was the next to call for the trainer at the change of ends and seemed to be having trouble with his elbow.
Tomic then pounced on Sirianni in the next game and broke serve to take the set 6-4.
The second set started the same way as the first with Sirianni breaking Tomic in the first game. He broke also in the fifth game to race to a 4-1 lead and once again it seemed as if Sirianni would take the set. In a strange game where Tomic seemed to lose interest playing a few trick shots, Sirianni also lost concentration and played a few loose points to hand the break back to Tomic.
Tomic again broke in the eighth game when Sirianni double faulted to tie it up at 4-all. Tomic seemed in trouble on serve when he faced 0-40 but he got out of trouble with some well constructed points to take the lead 5-4.
In the tenth game, Tomic was able to close the match out breaking Sirianni’s serve with his first match point and book a spot in the final.