LONDON, CMC – Nicolette Fernandes was knocked-out of the Coronation London Open at the semi-final stage yesterday.
The World No.49 from Guyana lost to hometown girl Emma Beddoes in a match that lasted just over half-hour.
The top-seeded Beddoes, the World No.23, won 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 to reach the Final, where she will face compatriot Victoria Lust.
In the first round of the competition, fourth-seed Fernandes needed just 25 minutes to dispose of the Czech Republic’s Olga Ertlova 11-8, 11-1, 11-9.
A difficult quarter-final against qualifier Sarah-Jane Perry may have softened Fernandes up for Beddoes in the semis, as she needed almost an hour to topple her English opponent 11-3, 15-13, 8-11, 11-6 to reach the semis.
Fernandes however, failed to break through the ceiling, and slumped to her sixth loss at the semi-final stage of an international tournament this season.
She lost to American Olivia Blatchford in the semi-finals of the Liberty Bell Open in straight sets, and suffered a similar result in the semi-finals of the Swedish Open the following month to World No.8 Vanessa Atkinson.
In April, Fernandes lost in the Final Four of the Racquet Club International to American Amanda Sohby, the same opponent that stopped her at the same stage in the New England Open the following month.
She then lost in the semi-finals of Sun & Surf Open in the Cayman Islands to another American Latasha Khan.
