AMERICAN top seed Connor Smith crashed out in spectacular fashion before returning to end Ashley Fisher’s hopes of winning the doubles trophy named in his honour.
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Smith took the first set, before failing to win another game in a 5-7, 6-0, 6-0 loss to Germany’s Sebastian Fanselow.
It was an extraordinary turnaround, with Fanselow now taking on New Zealander Finn Tearney in the semi-finals.
However, Smith hit back when he partnered with fellow American Marcos Giron to ease past Fisher and Dayne Kelly, winning 6-2, 6-1.
Fisher, who spent more than a decade on the elite tour, arrived at the tournament in a bid to make a return to the doubles ranks.
However, he and Kelly had never met, let alone played together, before taking to the court this week.
Tearney , the tournament No 5 seed, made it through in the top half of the draw in another bizarre match, coming from a set down to win in three.
After losing the first set 6-0, Tearney surged back to level the match in the second 6-2, before prevailing in a tie-break thriller 7-6 (7-5).
Tearney’s fightback leaves the door open for an all New Zealand final in the first of two $15,000 tournaments at Beaton Park.
Fellow Kiwi and No 3 seed Jose Statham takes on Ben Mitchell on Saturday.
Statham made the final of last year’s final in the second Wollongong tournament, missing out on the major prize with a 6-4, 7-5 loss to American Jarmere Jenkins, not competing this year.