South African junior tennis player Ilze Hattingh progressed to the final of the Sun City Futures 2 when her opponent, Madri Le Roux, retired from their semi-final match on Friday.

Hattingh was leading her doubles partner and tournament third seed 6-4 4-0 before she was forced to pull out due to influenza.

The 18-year-old, who hails from Durban, had pulled off an upset when she defeated tournament favourite Channel Simmonds 7-6 (3) 6-2 in a quarterfinal match on Thursday.

Hattingh’s run has been impressive considering that she only returned to the court four weeks ago after recovering from a fractured rib strain.

She will now face the winner of the second semifinal between Clothilde De Bernardi of France and fourth seed Natasha Fourouclas of South Africa.

Friday afternoon’s men’s semifinals will be an all-South African affair as Dean O’Brien will take on Nik Scholtz, while Tucker Vorster will face third seeded Fritz Wolmarans.