Women's Semi-final #1 - Amy Wang (USA) vs Bruna Takahashi (BRA)
Amy out to a hot start in G1, up 5-1. Neither player has really looked 100% themselves so far in this tournament, but Bruna has seemed to struggle to find her groove in particular. 9-5, Amy is up with two serves. Strong rally but Amy finishes it, 10-5. Bruna saves a game point in a fast-paced Amy Wang-style rally, 10-6. 11-7 G1 win for Amy after a couple nice exchanges. 1-0 Wang.
I certainly expect G2 to continue where G1 left off with quick back and forth attacks from both players. Amy using her speed and Bruna tapping into her power.
G2 starts with 2 fast points for Amy Wang, smooth counter forehand. Bruna gets a point off her first serve but a netball return makes it 3-1 for Amy. 3-2 after a nice forehand block from Bruna against the Amy Wang parallel backhand open. 2-4 at the first towel break. Driving forehand from Bruna and Wang’s block goes into the net but a clean inside out backhand from Wang gets it to 5-3, followed with a serve point, 6-3. Bruna with a cracking backhand counter down the line to thwart Amy’s offense. 7-5 Amy at the second towel break. Momentum stalled for Wang a bit, and now an outright service error. Missed forehand attack from Amy ties it up at 7-7. Bruna returns the gift with a service miss on her first, but follows up immediately with a strong forehand attack from the baseline. 8-8. Spinny open from Wang is blocked back and the smash goes long, 8-9. At the third towel break, it's 9-9 here in G2 after a killer Wang forehand. Bruna to serve… Strong backhand attacks redirected by Wang to the wide forehand, 9-10. Another service point for Bruna, 10-10. Amy sets up and sends the battering ram forehand to go up 11-10. A nice spinny third ball forehand over the table from Bruna ties it back up as the block drifts wide. Amy continues to pressure with her forehand flat third-ball kills. Bruna returns the favor with a spinny forehand from below the table that causes a failed smash attempt. Wang switches to an off-pace spinny ball that catches Bruna’s block off guard as she was a step back. Amy follows up with another backhand to the wide forehand of Bruna that goes into the net. Amy wins G2 14-12 and seems to have a solid footing in this match in the face of Bruna’s spin and aggression. 2-0 Wang.
G3, Amy with the first point but Bruna gets a strong open in to tie it up at 1-1. A missed backhand flick by Bruna puts Amy up 2-1. Bruna’s spinny forehand open into Wang’s forehand is reliably scoring points. Stream error at 2-2. Overall the Paddeo Live coverage has been consistent and easy to use. We resume without missing a point. However, Bruna misses her backhand opening attack and it’s 2-3. 4-2 for Wang at the first towel break after her slower forehand open gets blocked into the net. 5-5 now after some points for Bruna. She’s down 5-7 at the second towel break in G3. Bruna is stringing together her attack sequences with greater success now. She has Amy on the defensive. 7-7 now but the audio seems to be delayed a few seconds on the stream after the issue. 8-8, this is a closely-contested game. Amy going into lockdown rally mode and outlasting Bruna to go up 10-8. No towel break for Amy and she closes G3 quickly 11-8 and is now up 3-0.
Bruna fighting to go up 2-1 in G4 but Amy is doing what Amy does and ties it up 2-2. It is going to be tremendously difficult to turn this match around for Bruna. Stream cuts out at 2-2. Not sure what the score is and sound is out, but Bruna is hitting some strong counters while Amy continues to pour it on. Amy is too quick with the redirections from the middle with her backhand, sending Bruna scrambling out to the wide forehand once again. A service error from Bruna and now Amy is up 5-3. 5-5 after solid receives from Bruna. Reliable backhand open on return for Amy sees the block go into the net. Amy is so good at varying the pace and spin, making it difficult to consistently respond to her attacks. 6-6 at 2nd towel break G4. Bruna with a tricky sidespin flick from near the baseline and goes up 8-6. She continues serving her forehand pendulum serve but now a little longer and to Amy’s middle, forcing a predictable backhand exchange. 10-6 for Bruna and she closes it out quickly with an 11-6 win in G4. 3-1 Amy Wang.
Bruna starts G5 with the same plan, spinny forehand open and then attack the block or counter strongly. Quick 2-0 for Bruna. Amy’s shovel serve gets sent into the bottom of the net and then a nice middling return that lets her start her offense. 2-2. Bruna continuing to target Amy’s elbow and varying the spin of her swiping pendulum serve to additional success. A strong backhand open and direction change puts Bruna up 4-2. She neutralizes Amy’s serve but can’t win the rally, 4-3. A blistering forehand counter ends the rally with authority and Bruna goes up 5-3 and has her serves. Net-ball sitter but her backhand goes long, 5-4. Changes the pendulum to short forehand and out rallies Wang, 6-4. Another sidespin flick but it flies too high and Amy kills it. 5-6. Strong spin from Bruna on the backhand side sends Amy’s block long. Bruna looks focused and Amy is slightly discouraged after the recent exchanges. 7-5 at the second towel break. Wow, a world-class backhand exchange goes on and Bruna holds tight to win it. 8-5. 9-5 Bruna after her second serve is returned high and long. Amy’s third ball forehand open from below the table goes into the net. Bruna closes G5 out 11-5! 3-2 Amy.
An epic comeback in the making? Or a flame that Wang will quickly extinguish?
The Brazilian coach, Jorge Franck, appears passionate in between games as he coaches Bruna. Bruna wins the first point of G6 in quick fashion but Amy answers with a serve that is returned right into the net. Amy sets up and executes her fading backhand open from her forehand side to Bruna’s wide forehand, being sent back into the net once again. 3-1 and Wang seems to have found her fire in between games. 4-1 Amy and Bruna is forced to use her timeout here in G6 with her tournament hopes on the line. This is a make or break moment for Bruna Takahashi. Amy with some astonishing blocks but Bruna doesn’t relent. She’s down 2-4 at the first towel break here in G6. Her serves have been effective… short serve clips the net and barely goes over, tensions are high. Thunderous forehand down the line ricochets off Wang’s paddle. Amy answers with a strong first serve to Bruna’s middle and aces her. But Bruna continues to fight and has her serves down 4-6. Bruna with a great net save on the forehand side with a shortened loop and narrows the deficit to 1. A net and edge ball! Double Happiness as Bruna ties it up 6-6 at the second towel break. Amy’s fast serve to the backhand kicks like a mule and flies into the abyss. 7-6 Amy. We’ve got a firefight on our hands here in El Salvador. 7-7 but Amy pulls out the trusty inside-out backhand to Bruna’s forehand that is printing points. Bruna serves and Amy moves over for the flick but it jumps, 8-8. Another fast flat serve to Bruna’s backhand and Amy is up 1. Now a fast one to the backhand middle of Bruna and Amy has her first match point up 10-8 at the third towel break. Bruna gets her attack in to Amy’s wide forehand to bring it to 10-9. Timeout for Amy as her Coach, Jun Gao, gives her specific advice and direction to close this match out. Bruna looks nervous and Amy has her trademark relaxed aura to her. Amy puts together two nice backhands to neutralize Takahashi’s serve but loses the rally. Deuce! 10-10. Amy serves long to the backhand middle but Bruna gets it back and wins the rally, 11-10 as Bruna serves here in G6. Wow! Amy’s forehand attack goes into the net and Bruna wins 12-10!
3-3… We are going to the seventh-game decider here, folks!
The table has been set for an almost unthinkable comeback from Bruna Takahashi. However, Amy Wang is a cool customer who closes things out when called upon. This is a semifinal battle for the ages.
G7, Bruna with the first serves. Heavy side underspin to the short forehand of Amy and it goes into the net. 1-0 Bruna. She does it this time with sidespin but Amy sends it back and then finishes the 4th ball. 1-1. Bruna gets her super spinny forehand in to the middle and Amy's block shoots long, 1-2. Now 3-1 Bruna and she is fired up. The audio on the stream is out but she is clearly celebrating these strong shots. 4-1 after a fanning backhand fade block to cover her middle. Bruna is up 5-1 at the first towel break and side change here in game 7. This is crazy!
Amy serves to the middle and gets her setup ball to attack and converts it. 2-5. A near-miss let and Amy reloads. Bruna somehow manages to cover both sides and return Amy’s attacks putting her up 6-2. Amy with an excellent inside-out forehand return of the half-long pendulum to her middle, but her next push return goes long. Amy trails 3-7 but has her serves. Classic forehand open to backhand smooth-counter gets Amy a point. 4-7. Bruna relentlessly targeting Amy’s middle in these exchanges which is causing Amy to freeze up. 8-4 Bruna at the second towel break. Amy uses that inside-out backhand open from the forehand baseline to get another point off exploiting Bruna’s wide forehand. Bruna continues the onslaught with her forehand open and backhand finish. Similar tactics from both ladies and Bruna is executing it to perfection. 5-9 and Amy gets a point off her serve being sent into the net. 6-9. Bruna with a brilliant short return and Wang’s backhand attack clips the net. 10-6 Bruna with a chance to seal the deal… Half-long pendulum into Amy’s middle doesn’t carry any underspin and is looped way long. Bruna just won 11-6 in G7 and 4-3.
What an amazing comeback from Bruna. She jumpstarts her Pan American Championship with this performance, making her way into the finals where she will face either fellow Pan American juggernaut Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico, or her younger sister Giulia Takahashi.
The women’s finals take place tonight at 7:30 PM ET.