Photograph by Miya Tanner for Texas Student Media
Wild cards Karina Miller and Malaika Rapolu each went the distance to win their semifinal matches the H-E-B Women’s Pro Tennis Open on Saturday at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin. But their final sets were lessons in contrast.
Rapolu, a hometown favorite and a recent UT grad, scored a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Haruka Kaji of Japan. Miller, a 22-year-old who starred at the University of Michigan, outlasted Whitney Osiugwe, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, in a final set that overflowed with breaks. Miller, pictured above during her quarterfinal victory on Friday, is at her career-high ranking of No. 487.
Osuigwe, a 22-year-old from Bradenton, Fla., served for the match at 5-4 but true to form was broken after double-faulting then hitting a backhand long. At 5-5, 0-30, Miller looked as if she might suffer a similar fate but held on as her opponent started making more errors. Oswuigwe lost four straight points to lose the match. Miller is at her career-high ranking of No. 487.
Rapolu, 21, looked out of sorts in the first set as the 30-year-old Kaji, ranked No. 275, looked as if she might reach her fourth singles final of the year. Rapolu scored a break late in the second set and never looked back. Kaji did put a fight serving at 0-4, but Rapolu eventually broke to win that long game. In a rare occurrence in the singles semifinals, Rapolu served an ace down the line to close the match. She is also at her career-high ranking, No. 809.