Top seeds Gilis and Rodriguez to face tough competition in Australian Open finals

An exciting day of matches set up the conclusive round of the 2022 City Tattersalls Club Australian Open in Sydney tomorrow, with no 1 seed Nele Gilis (BEL) facing Sabrina Sobhy (USA) in the women’s final and men’s top seed Miguel Rodriguez (COL) playing Greg Lobban (SCO) for the title.

World no. 13 Gilis was the first on court today, playing against tournament seed no. 6 Satomi Watanabe (JAP), who had impressed yesterday in her quarter-final win against Jasmine Hutton (ENG). The Japanese could not repeat the feat today and was outmatched by Gilis, but she didn’t go down without a fight.

After falling two games behind and saving two match balls, Watanabe managed to win the third game 14-12 and push the match to the fourth. It was another close game, but Gilis eventually came out on top for a 3-1 win.

“I started well in the first two games, but then she started playing much better in the third and fourth game,” Gilis said after the match. “She was getting better and better as the match went on. She was getting more comfortable while I was getting a bit edgy, so in a way I feel lucky and very happy that I closed it off.”

In the other women’s semifinal Sabrina Sobhy (USA) proved too strong for fellow American Olivia Clyne. Sobhy prevailed 3-0 on a hard and bouncy court that favoured her fast-paced style, heading into the final in top form and without having dropped a single game.

Men’s no.1 seed Miguel Rodriguez is also through to the final with a clean record after another convincing performance against Andrew Douglas (USA). Rodriguez looked in control in the opening two games and wrapped up the match in straight games, despite a late resurgence by the American.

“Andrew played much better in the third game, when he changed his style a bit,” Rodriguez said.

“I played his game and instead I should have picked up the pace and played faster, like I had done in the first and second game. But I am happy that I have won in three games and qualified for another final in my career. Especially here in Sydney, it’s pretty special for me.”

The last obstacle on Rodriguez’s journey to the title is Greg Lobban, as the Scot defeated Adrian Waller (ENG) in three games. Lobban started well securing the first game and then resisted Waller’s comeback to win the second game 21-19. It was an epic, 34-minute-long game where Lobban had 9 game balls to Waller’s 4. Lobban then held on to the lead to close out the match in three and play Rodriguez in an exciting men’s final.

The conclusive acts of the 2022 City Tattersalls Club Australian Open are scheduled for tomorrow, with the women’s final starting at 1pm AEDT followed by the men’s final.

All the action from the Sydney University Sport and Fitness Centre will be streamed live on the PSA Challenger Tour’s YouTube channel, with live scoring also available from the PSA World Tour website.


Australian Open Semifinals - Men’s results

[1] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [6] Andrew Douglas (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (43m)
[3] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [2] Adrian Waller (ENG): 3-0: 11-6, 21-19, 11-9 (62m)

Australian Open Semifinals - Women’s results

[1] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt [6] Satomi Watanabe (JAP) 3-1: 11-3, 11-8, 12-14, 11-9 (60m)
[2] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt [3] Olivia Clyne (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-7 (31m)

Australian Open - Women’s Final (Sunday, 30 Oct - 1pm AEDT)

[1] Nele Gilis (BEL) v [2] Sabrina Sobhy (USA)

Australian Open - Men's Final (Sunday, 30 Oct - 2pm AEDT)

[1] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v [3] Greg Lobban (SCO)