The tournament's top-two seeds advanced on Friday at the 25K Tesoro Women's Open a USTA Pro Circuit event in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
No. 1 seed Shuai Zhang advanced to the semis on Friday when her opponent Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia was forced to retire at one-set all. Zhang, one of the biggest draws at Tesoro reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 US Open, defeating now-retired Kim Clijsters in the first round. She peaked at a No. 73 in the world in 2011 and is currently ranked No. 34 in the WTA doubles rankings.
She will next face last week's USTA Pro Circuit winner Tadeja Majeric of Slovenia who defeated her Argentine opponent in straight sets in the quarters.
On the other side of the draw, the semifinals matchup will be No. 2 seed Sharon Fichman of Canada taking on Tetyana Arefyeva, a qualifier from the Ukraine. Fichman, a veteran of many USTA Pro Circuit events took out a tough foe in Adriana Perez of Venezuela in the semifinals.
The fan turnout this week in Port St. Lucie has been fantastic and that has the tournament director excited.
"The USTA loves this facility and sees our event as a tune-up to the majors", says Tournament Director Winston Owen. "We expect to see some great action and world-class tennis at this week's event.
The final in doubles is set as Perez and Florencia Molinero of Argentina will face American Allie Will and Angelina Gabueva of Russia.
In addition to the players and fans enjoying this week's event, some four-legged friends will be hoping to find a home. The Humane Society of the Treasure Coast will be the benefiting charity for tournament. Dogs from the local humane society will be up for adoption at the tournament throughout the week.
If you are in the area, come out and see the action.
Follow all the action this week at www.tesorochallenger.com.
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