RESULTS: Women's Epstein Becker & Green Los Angeles Open, Los Angeles, USA
Semi-finals:
[1] Samantha Teran (MEX) bt [4] Manuela Manetta (ITA) 8-10, 9-0, 9-7, 6-9, 9-6 (99m)
[3] Louise Crome (NZL) bt [5] Aisling Blake (IRL) 9-0, 9-5, 9-0 (32m)
Mexico's top seed Samantha Teran and third-seeded New Zealander Louise Crome will meet in the final of the Women's Epstein Becker & Green Los Angeles Open after coming through highly contrasting semi-finals of the $20,000 WISPA World Tour squash event in its second year at Los Angeles Athletic Club in Los Angeles.
Teran avenged last year's quarter-final when she beat fourth seed Manuela Manetta. While Manetta needed 70 minutes to achieve her 2007 upset, it took 99 minutes this time for the 27-year-old from Mexico City to overcome the top-ranked Italian 8-10, 9-0, 9-7, 6-9, 9-6.
Whilst Teran survived a 120-minute battle on the WISPA Tour earlier this year (beating USA's Latasha Khan in the Liberty Bell Open), the LA semi was the longest match of Manetta's career.
"I wanted to set a record time before we go to 11 scoring!" Teran told www.squashsite.co.uk afterwards. "No, seriously, I tried everything and she tried everything - it was a very close match. When I was up I knew I couldn't relax as she would be coming back, and when I was down I became more determined not to let her get away.
"I'm used to playing very long matches, since in Mexico I play a lot with the men and the courts are very hot there too.
"It's nice to win, but I never thought about revenge for last year. It was just a good match, and I'm really pleased to be in the final."
The other semi-final was wrapped up in less than a third of the time! Louise Crome was in scintillating form as she despatched Ireland's fifth seed Aisling Blake 9-0, 9-5, 9-0 in just 32 minutes.
Blake had claimed her unexpected place in the last four after upsetting second seed Latasha Khan in the previous round.
"I felt really focused today, I don't really know how it happened but the basis of my game was to drive it low and hard and pin her in the back corners, and it was working really well," explained the 30-year-old from Auckland.
"I lost to her 3/2 in February, and when we train together it's always close, we always give 100% even in training, so I'm really pleased to make the final - it's one of my biggest.
"I lost to Samantha the only time I played her, a couple of years ago, so I'm looking forward to meeting her again."
Samantha Teran is celebrating her 13th appearance in a WISPA final - and her fourth this year - while it is the 12th of Crome's career and her third of the year. But both arrived in LA fresh from Tour victories - the Kiwi after winning the Welsh Open earlier in the month and the Mexican victorious in the Goshen Open in Indiana in May.