Canadians Blow Hot & Cold In Ottawa

There were mixed fortunes for local players in the first round of the Women's Ottawa International in Canada.

National champion Alana Miller, the seventh seed from Winnipeg, squandered leads of 1/0 and 2/1 to go down 6-9 9-5 3-9 9-3 9-5 in 58 minutes to Ireland's sole representative Aisling Blake.

Unseeded Katie Patrick, however, upset England's sixth seed Lauren Briggs 7-9 9-3 3-9 10-9 9-7 in 64 minutes - the longest match of the day. The 26-year-old from Edmonton now faces Australia's third seed Melissa Martin, the runner-up in Ottawa last year.

Toronto's Melanie Jans Burke also advanced to the quarter-finals against the odds. Coming off a WISPA World Tour victory last week in Calgary, Jans Burke upset eighth seed Sarah Kippax, of England, 9-3 3-9 3-9 9-1 9-6 in a match that lasted exactly one hour.

"This was a very good test for me after going through such an emotional drain last week," said Jans Burke, who overcame a 2-6 deficit in the fifth game. "After the first game tonight I got lulled into a false sense of security and she started to get to all my drop shots. I really had to fight to comeback."

Despite battling hard, Korean qualifier Lee Hai-Kyung was unable to emulate her success in Calgary where she reached the final after upsetting a succession of seeds. Against fifth seed Heidi Mather, the 29-year-old from Seoul forced the first two games into tie-breaks, but the Australian was too strong, coming through the 10-9 10-8 4-9 9-5 winner in 55 minutes.

1st round:
[1] Rebecca Macree (ENG) bt [Q] Tara Mullins (CAN) 9-2, 6-9, 9-1, 9-2 (40m)
Aisling Blake (IRL) bt [7] Alana Miller (CAN) 6-9, 9-5, 3-9, 9-3, 9-5 (58m)
[3] Melissa Martin (AUS) bt Marnie Baizley (CAN) 9-1, 9-5, 9-5 (26m)
Katie Patrick (CAN) bt [6] Lauren Briggs (ENG) 7-9, 9-3, 3-9, 10-9, 9-7 (64m)
[5] Heidi Mather (AUS) bt [Q] Lee Hai-Kyung (KOR) 10-9, 10-8, 4-9, 9-5 (55m)
[4] Runa Reta (CAN) bt [Q] Georgina Stoker (ENG) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0 (22m)
Melanie Jans Burke (CAN) bt [8] Sarah Kippax (ENG) 9-3, 3-9, 3-9, 9-1, 9-6 (60m)
[2] Stephanie Brind (ENG) bt [Q] Samantha Teran (MEX) 9-1, 9-3, 9-0 (17m)