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The women’s semi finals were played outdoors in perfect weather for tennis, with the tournaments second seed, Franziska Etzel from Germany beating Waikato-Bays’ Heidi Stewart in straight sets 6-4 6-3, ensuring there would be some international representation in the final. The other semi final was somewhat of an upset, with fifth seed Leela Beattie of Canterbury getting the better of top seed Kairangi Vano, winning the match 6-4 6-2.

In the men’s draw, top seed Marcus Daniell from Central dropped the first set to Auckland’s Andrew Allan before showing his experience and taking the match 4-6 6-0 6-1. He would meet Argentina’s Gustavo Gomez in the final – the Argentine taking out the other semi final 6-4 6-4 over second seed Adam Thompson from Auckland.

A good sized crowd were treated to some fantastic tennis in the finals, as young Cantabrian Leela Beattie opened finals night against German Franziska Etzel, and although fighting hard, Etzel proved too strong, taking the title 7-5 6-4.

The men’s final didn’t disappoint either, going the distance with both men producing some high quality tennis. After dropping the first set 5-7, Daniell eventually won the match, taking out the title with a 5-7 7-6 7-6 win, coming back from 3-5 down in the third set.

FUJI XEROX AUCKLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS as part of the Configure Express NZMT Circuit, NZMT 3, Scarbro Tennis centre, Glen Innes, Auckland

Results

Semi finals

Women
L.Beattie bt K. Vano 6-4 6-2, F.Etzel bt H. Stewart 6-4 6-3

Men

M. Daniell bt A. Allan 4-6 6-0 6-1. G. Gomez bt A. Thompson 6-4 6-4

Finals

Women

F. Etzel bt L. Beattie 7-5 6-4

Men