TEMPLETON, September 29, 2024 (by Steve Pratt)
Looking to go one match farther than she did after falling in last year’s EPIC Central Coast Tennis Classic singles final, Renata Zarazua of Mexico put on a dazzling display of all-court tennis on Saturday in a dominating 6-1, 6-0 semifinal win over Canada’s Cadence Brace.
The 26-year-old and top-seeded Zarazua fell short in last year’s singles final to American Taylor Townsend, but is hoping to get her first ITF Pro Circuit title of the year Sunday at the women’s $60,000 USTA Pro Circuit event when she faces American Usue Arconada.
“I’m very happy and of course coming into the week this was my goal to get back to the final,” said Zarazua, who is ranked No. 78 in the world.
She told Templeton Tennis Ranch owner and tournament chairman Ralph Goehring after the match: “I had such great memories from here last year. It feels like my home court to me. We’ve had such a great time here with my coach and father here with me.”
Zarazua, who needed three sets to win her semifinal on Friday, dropped just one game for the second time this week and did it against the upstart qualifier and 19-year-old LSU freshman Brace.
Zarazua will face American Usue Arconada in the singles final on Sunday, which is scheduled to start following the 11 a.m. doubles final. For the second straight day, Arconada battled back from a set down to rally and win her semi against Southern Californian and fellow unseeded player Katrina Soctt, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Arconada is coming back from a more than two-year layoff because of two wrist surgeries, and knows her finals opponent well from the juniors but has never faced her in the pros.
She said she got off to a slow start Saturday because of the breezy conditions on the outer Stadium Court. “I was having a tough time with the wind and was just making mistakes early on and couldn’t find my footing,” Arconada said.
Scott, 20, seemed to let up on her serve a bit in the third set, and you could tell she was visibly struggling with her right shoulder. “She was having some body issues and I’m not sure what it was that was wrong with her,” Arconada said. “I didn’t know what for sure was bothering her.”
Zarazua is looking forward to facing her junior rival in the final on Sunday. “I have never played her in the pros but I always remember losing to her in the juniors,” she said. “I was disappointed to lose in the final last year and I’m hoping to step it up and have a different result in the final.”
The 11 a.m. doubles final will pit the No. 2 seeded American’s Sophie Chang and Rasheeda McAdoo against No. 4 seeds Canada’s Rebecca Marino and American Carmen Corley, who played her college tennis at Oklahoma University. Chang and McAdoo have won 33 ITF doubles titles combined during their careers, including their only title together, an ITF W75 in Portugal in June.
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