Russian tears were shed down the telephone line in the referee's office following Yvonne Doyle's three hour-plus victory in the ITF Irish Women's Open championships at the Glasnevin Club yesterday.
As Ekaterina Syssoeva tried to explain her defeat - and a perceived error of judgment by the chair umpire in a tense final set - back to her London base, emotions ran high.
Doyle, seeded three, struggled to get back into the match in that energy-sapping final set having dropped serve in the third and fifth games to trail 1-4. The Irish woman clawed her way back with breaks in the sixth and 10th game but before that the Russian engaged the umpire in a prolonged debate over a point she was denied in the seventh game.
The alleged error was only realised by the Russian and spectators when Doyle was called as leading 40-15 instead of what many felt should have been 30-30.
"A point is so important when the games are so close," said Syssoeva ruefully. "Anyway," she added, "I made mistakes when serving for the match at 5-4."
The Russian agreed that Doyle is one of the most difficult players to beat because of the persistent nature of her play. "She puts no appreciable spin or variation on the ball, she just keeps hitting it flat and accurate," the Russian said.
Syssoeva (20) seemed to be using base lines as targets resulting in perfect length but Doyle was generally there to provide the answers for a 7-6 4-6 7-6 win.
Doyle meets Australian number six seed Emily Hewson in today's quarter-final. She is the only Irish player remaining in the singles following defeats for Elsa O'Riain, Claire Curran and Karen Nugent.
Curran went close to upsetting her US doubles partner Teryn Ashley, the number two seed. They shared eight first set points but the American, a member of the top US Stanford College team, pocketed the set on her fifth point chance.
"She hits the ball really well off the ground. My best chance was to move her about but I injured a leg and was unable to do that," said a disappointed Curran.
Ashley is on course for a Saturday showdown with top seed Cristelle Grier of Surrey.
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