After (lucky) breaks, Reix tops No. 2 seed in Redding

   The breaks have gone Sherazad Reix's way in The Ascension Project Women's $25,000 Women's Challenger in Redding, Calif.
   Not only service breaks but lucky breaks.
   The 26-year-old Frenchwoman, seeded fifth, played her first-round match on Tuesday. Therefore, she didn't have to play two singles matches on Thursday after the scheduled completion of the first round on Wednesday was rained out.
   Reix didn't play Thursday, either, because qualifier Maegan Manasse, a Cal junior, withdrew on Tuesday from their second-round match with a mystery ailment. (Manasse miraculously recovered to win her first-round singles and doubles matches as the top seed in both on Friday in the inaugural Oracle/ITA Masters college tournament in Malibu.)
    A fresh Reix dispatched second-seeded Varatchaya Wongteanchai of Thailand 6-0, 6-4 in Friday's quarterfinals at Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness. Wongteanchai played six sets, four in singles and two in doubles, on Thursday. Reix lost in the first round of doubles on Tuesday.
   Reix, ranked 14th in France at No. 273 in the world, will meet seventh-seeded Paula Cristina Goncalves of Brazil in today's first semifinal at 12:30 p.m. Goncalves, 25, outlasted Anna Zaja of Germany 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
   After the Reix-Goncalves match, Vania King of Boca Raton, Fla., will take on eighth-seeded Heidi El Tabakh of Canada.
   King, a former top-50 singles player and a two-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, routed sixth-seeded Caitlin Whoriskey, a Boston native, 6-2, 6-1. King is playing in her fifth tournament after missing almost one year with a herniated disc in her neck.
   El Tabakh, who will turn 29 on Friday, topped Klaartje Liebens of Belgium 7-5, 7-5. Liebens lost in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.

THE ASCENSION PROJECT WOMEN'S $25,000 CHALLENGER

At Sun Oaks Tennis & Fitness in Redding, Calif.

Singles quarterfinals

   Paula Cristina Goncalves (7), Brazil, def. Anna Zaja, Germany, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

   Vania King, United States, def. Caitlin Whoriskey (6), United States, 6-2, 6-1.
   Sherazad Reix (5), France, def. Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand, 6-0, 6-4.
   Heidi El Tabakh (8), Canada, def. Klaartje Liebens, Belgium, 7-5, 7-5.

Doubles semifinal

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey (1), United States, def. Alexandra Facey and Kat Facey, Cameron Park, 6-0, 6-1.

  Today's schedule

Court 2
(Starting at 12:30 p.m.)

   Paula Cristina Goncalves (7), Brazil, vs. Sherazad Reix (5), France.
   Vania King, United States, vs. Heidi El Tabakh (8), Canada.

   Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey (1), United States, vs. Michelle Sammons, South Africa, and Varatchaya Wongteanchai (2), Thailand.