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| 06 Mar 2003 | |
| Kirche crashes out on day 3 |
Day 3 at the Banana Bowl bought bad news for some of the higher placed seeds in both the boys' and girls' draw. Home hopes were dashed when Brazilian No.2 seed Leonardo Kirche narrowly lost out to Fabio Fognini from Italy. Kirche predicted that it would be a tough match, having just scraped a victory over Fognini last week at the Argentina Bowl, this time round Fognini gained his revenge 76(6) 36 75.
Brazil's hopes now rest with Bruno Rosa who successfully overcame fellow Brazilian and good friend Diego Cubas 63 46 62. Rosa's serve was his greatest weapon in the match: "I served very well, especially in the first and third sets." Rosa will take on No.8 seed Robert Cameron in the next round who he has never seen play but nevertheless is still feeling confident thanks to his win over Cubas.
The other seed to fall in the boys' draw was No.6 seed Jaime Cuellar from El Salvador who suffered defeat at the hands of Richard Irwin (GBR) 63 63. Irwin completed a hat trick of victories for the Brits, with Guy Thomas and David Brewer also progressing through to the next round.
In the girls' draw No.3 seed Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) was the highest seed to exit. In a close three set match it was Bondarenko's opponent, Laura Thorpe from France, who emerged smiling with a 76(5) 26 64 victory. The demise of the No.3 seed, along with the loss of the No.1 seed in the first round opens up the top half of the draw.
Three other seeds were sent packing yesterday, Barbora Costa (BRA) gave the home crowd something to cheer about when she ousted No.9 seed Maryori Franco (COL) 60 64. Argentina's Soledad Esperon seeded No.11 lost out to Alexandra Hirsh from USA 61 64, whilst Federica Quercia (ITA) outlasted No. 15 seed Megan Falcon (USA) 57 60 64.
Favourites for the title must now be No.2 seed Julia Cohen (USA) how has made light work of her matches so far, progressing to the third round with a 61 62 win over Argentina's Betina Jozami. Also Vojislava Lukic (YUG) who is on a 19 match winning streak, the latest coming against Virginia Donda (ARG) 64 76(5). Cohen and Lukic are scheduled for a semifinal showdown.
For full results of day three click here: Banana Bowl Drawsheets
Photographs by Joao Pires
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