Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 30, 1994 TAG: 9407300043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's the wrong time of day, according to the second seed of the USTA Women's Circuit of Roanoke.
Seventeen-year-old Kristina Brandi, of Bradenton, Fla., eased past Tara Snyder (Wichita, Kan.) 6-1, 6-2 in the last singles quarterfinal played at Hunting Hills Country Club Friday.
Brandi was not enamored with her play, however, and she attributed part of her performance to the starting hour.
"It's pretty difficult to wait all day," said Brandi, ranked 347th in the world. "I got off to a slow start. I played better in my first two [tournament] matches."
Brandi will play in the early afternoon today, facing Tampa's Aarthi Venkatesan in the second semifinal. In the 11 a.m. opener, No. 1 seed Claudine Toleafoa, of New Zealand, meets Japan's Keiko Nagatomi.
Venkatesan outlasted Japan's Nao Akahori in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Toleafoa defeated Yoshiko Sosano, also of Japan, 6-3, 6-2, and Nagatomi upset sixth seed Petra Gaspar, of Hungary, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Originally, today's schedule called for one singles match to be played in the morning, and one to start at 6 p.m, but it has been altered because of multiple players' requests. Instead, both doubles semifinals will be played in the evening.
Brandi, a rising senior at Bradenton Academy, is playing in her sixth tournament this summer. Friday's victory was her 44th match. She made few mistakes against Snyder, keeping the ball in play and allowing her opponent to force the action.
According to Brandi's mother, Jane, who watched Friday's play from the stands, Brandi has been heavily recruited by colleges. "I understand there are 12 calls on our answering machine_all from different colleges," Jane Brandi said.
"[Brandi's] very consistent. That's her strength. And she runs a lot of balls down," said Snyder, who had not lost a set in seven matches, including the qualifying tournament, until Friday. "Brandi mixes it up well."
Snyder, 17, will be a senior at Wichita North High. Like Brandi, she felt her play Friday was sluggish. "I just wasn't mentally into it," Snyder said. "My body was slow."
Brandi and Snyder split the first two games, before Brandi broke service twice and won five consecutive games.
Snyder rallied to win the first two games of the second set, but then Brandi closed her opponent out, winning six games in a row.
"After the first set, I think ]Snyder] tried to do something different," Brandi said. "It was like she decided to go for it. And [the strategy] worked for awhile.
"But then, she leveled off, and played like she did at first again."
Brandi won a tournament on the women's circuit in Indianapolis in early July. Roanoke was just Snyder's second tournament of the season.
"I wanted to make it to the main draw," Snyder said. "Then I wanted to go all the way to the finals. I think I had a good shot at it."
In the qualifying tournament, in whicn more than 20 players competed for four positions, Snyder beat Venkatesan in the finals.
Snyder's father had booked a return flight for her to Wichita on Friday.
"I don't think he had much confidence in me," she said.
Keywords:
TENNIS
by CNB