Tennis: Sema wins glare-and-stare women's event

Japanese fifth seed Erika Sema won the battle of the glare and stare competition at the Configure Express Pro international tennis event in Wellington when she out-rallied her Bulgarian opponent, Elitsa Kostova, in three tight sets yesterday.

Both Kostova, ranked No 255 in the world, and Sema, No 241, stared each other down after points and screeched louder as the match got closer and the score see-sawed. Eventually Sema prevailed in a passionate match 6-2 3-6 6-4, to win the singles title in the US$25,000 women's event.

Second seed Sebastian Rieschick defeated Aussie top-seed Brydan Klein in straight sets 7-5 6-3 in the final of the men's tournament. For 24-year-old Rieschick, the win should take him from his current rank of 302 to back inside the top 300 and close to his career high of 284.

There was plenty of good shot making in the men's final. But it was the women's match which had the intensity.