Laura books semi-final in San Francisco

England's top two players Laura Massaro and Sarah-Jane Perry will go head-to-head in the semi-finals of the 2017 Oracle NetSuite Open, PSA W50 tournament in San Francisco.
Laura Massaro in action (Photo: PSA)Laura Massaro in action (Photo: PSA)
Laura Massaro in action (Photo: PSA)

Massaro and Perry managed respective wins over Egypt’s Salma Hany Ibrahim and Australia’s Donna Urquhart on day two of the tournament.

Chorley ace Massaro, the defending champion and World No.4, had lost out to Ibrahim the last time they met on the PSA World Tour two years ago.

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But she eased to victory in the first game before a resurgent Ibrahim levelled in the second.

But the lacklustre Ibrahim of the opening game reared her head again in the third as Massaro marched into a 10-1 lead – ultimately seeing it out 11-4.

And the Englishwoman used that momentum to come out on top in a high quality fourth game to seal her place in a second successive Oracle NetSuite Open semi-final fixture by an 11-5, 12-14, 11-4, 11-7 scoreline.

“I had to keep myself really upbeat and had to have a lot of positive body language,” said Massaro.

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“I had to be really alert, had to keep my body language up and had to be 100 per cent respectful of a player with that talent and I’m really happy to get off with a win.

“It’s a lively court, we’ve played on it a few times in other cities.

“For me personally, it’s just about trying to stay positive at the front of the court.

“It’s not natural for me to want to do that but once I’ve hit on a court that’s as cold as this I want to be positive when I go short and I think I had that balance towards the end.”

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Birmingham-based Perry, meanwhile, surged into the semiss after beating Urquhart in straight games.

The World No.6 was dominant and did not drop a single point in the second game as she powered to an 11-9, 11-0, 11-9 victory to earn her place in the last four.

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