INDONESIA’s Angelique Widjaja, the only surviving seed (6), and Japan’s unseeded Shinobu Asagoe, rated 168 in the world, entered the final of the fifth Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge at the Metropolitan Resort and Beach Club last night.

Seventeen year-old Angelique, the Wimbledon junior champ and world number five in the junior list, and 126 in the senior rankings, had another long three-set duel to go through before pulling off a 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over 20-year-old French girl Camille Pin in the first semifinal.

The second semifinal was expected to be a full time retrieving job for the hardworking and intelligent Osaka 25-year-old, Shinobu.

It turned out to be something else as it was her pretty hard hitting Belarus opponent Olga Barabanchikova who was at the receiving end most of the time except for the last four games of the second set.

Shinobu won 6-2, 6-4 in what was an anticlimax to the big expectations of the handful of spectators who turned up for the semifinals.

It is really surprising to find as to how people find no time to see top rate tennis free of cost in friendly surroundings.

Even if one quarter of the so-called tennis players of the expat league and tournaments here and their sponsors came forward to occupy the seats at the three court complex, the atmosphere would have been much better especially for the players, most of whom are close to WTA honours.

The quality of tennis in general at the Al Habtoor this time has been better than in previous years as there was little to choose between the top eight players here.