Power was the winner in the quarter-finals of the New Zealand residential tennis championships in Auckland yesterday as three of the top four men's seeds cruised into today's semifinals.
James Shortall served his way into the last four with a simple 6-2 6-4 win over fifth seed and former champion Steven Downs.
Shortall, aged 19, gave Downs no chance of gaining any rhythm in the first set and gave up only four games in the second after Downs pulled off some superb passing shots.
Downs had trouble reading the tall Manawatu player's powerful serve.
"I have definitely improved as the tournament has gone on. I hadn't played a tournament for six weeks and was expecting to play better with each match," Shortall said.
Shortall faces seventh seed Andrew Turner in the semifinals after Turner upset second seed Mark Thompson 7-6 7-5.
Turner, at 24 the oldest player in the quarter-finals, ran down every shot Thompson came up with.
New Zealand No 1 Mark Nielsen beat eighth seed Nick Turner 6-3 6-3 and will now meet his Davis Cup team-mate Teo Susnjak in the last four.
Susnjak, the defending champion, eased his way into the semifinals after giving New Zealand 18s champion Lee Radovanovich a lesson in consistency with a 6-2 6-2 win.
Top women's seed Leanne Baker made short work of Wellington's Victoria Beck with a 6-1 6-1 win, and will now play Canterbury's Niki Tippins in the semifinals.
Tippins struggled in her quarter-final against Tracey O'Connor, aged 17, before prevailing 6-4 6-4, while Eden Marama, aged 13, made third seed Rewa Hudson work hard before Hudson won by the same score.
Hudson faces former Uzbekistan Federation Cup player Irina Yarikova in the semifinals after Yarikova, now based in Canterbury, beat Paula Marama 7-6 6-3.
- NZPA
Tennis: Shortall's power sees him into semifinals
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