Maltese tennis player Francesca Curmi and her French partner Loudmilla Bencheick lost their semi-final clash at the Australian Junior Open today.

They were defeated by Adriann Nagy, of Hungary, and Japan’s Natsumi Nawaguchi 4-6, 6-2, (7-10).

Earlier, Maltese tennis player Francesca Curmi and her French partner Loudmilla Bencheick came back from a set down to beat Thailand’s duo Thasaporn Naklo and Mananchaya Sawangkaew 7-6 4-6 10-7 to go through to the girls doubles semi-finals of the Australian Juniors Open. 

Another Maltese player, Helen Pellicano and Spain’s Marta Custic suffered an agonizing exit to American duo Chloe Beck and Emma Navarro 3-6 6-2 10-6.

Curmi and Bencheick came out on top against the tournament’s second seeds in a match that lasted an hour and 24 minutes.

The duo built their victory on a superior first-serve ratio of 69 per cent that proved the difference especially in the crucial tie-breaker where led almost throughout.

Their reward is a semi-final clash against Adriann Nagy, of Hungary, and Japan’s Natsumi Nawaguchi who defeated Burundi’s Sada Nahimana and Moyuka Uchijima, of Japan.