Young Chattanoogan Bo Seal reached at least the semifinals of the Tennessee Valley Open Championships men's open division for the third year in a row Friday. That puts him in a 10:30 a.m. match today against top-seeded Julio Peralta, whom tournament co-director Ned Caswell described as "one of the best players we've had here."

"He's amazing," the director of tennis at Manker Patten, the TVOC's host club, added about the pro from Chile.

The 6-foot-2 Peralta described his game a little less enthusiastically.

"It's OK. Nothing special," he said. "I would say I'm even on both sides."

Peralta, who has won an ATP Challenger event in his relatively brief time playing in the United States, beat the fourth-seeded Seal's doubles partner, Ryan Noble of Fayetteville, N.C., 6-2, 6-3 in the open singles quarterfinals Friday morning.

"He's a consistent clay-courter," Noble said of Peralta between doubles matches late in the day. "He makes every ball he's supposed to make, and he makes some he's supposed to miss. It's all discipline."

The consistency comes from Peralta's experience, Noble noted. Seal, who recently signed to start playing this coming school year for Georgia, said that's the part of his game he's focusing on.

"When you get to the level where I am now," Seal said, "it's not about the strokes. It's the concentration. I'm working on staying mentally tough. But everything's going well.

"I made the finals here in 2007, and I made the semis last year and again this year. I've always played well at this tournament."

He lived up to his top-four billing by defeating new Georgia teammate Drake Bernstein, another of the four 5 seeds, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

The other men's open semifinal this morning pits No. 2 seed and defending champion Robbye Poole against Francisco Rodriguez, another past winner and a 5 seed. Rodriguez, a teaching pro in Atlanta, beat No. 3 Mattias Wellerman, 6-0, 7-6.

Poole downed No. 5 William Boe-Wiegaard, Peralta's doubles partner, 6-2, 6-1.

The top four seeds remain alive in men's open doubles -- in order from No. 1, Poole/Mattias, Seal/Noble, Peralta/Boe-Wiegaard and Bernstein/John Chesworth -- after two wins each Friday afternoon and evening.

Peralta did not arrive in Chattanooga until Thursday and has had no time to look around the city, but he was impressed with Manker Patten and the TVOC.

"These are good players here, and it's a nice club," he said. "It's a pretty nice place."

The women's open singles semifinals at 9 this morning are top-seeded Dianne Hollands against No. 5 Ashley Murdock and No. 2 seed Karen Nijssen against No. 5 Paulina Bigos, who edged No. 4 Claire Bartlett from Chattanooga in three sets.

The top-seeded duo of Hollands and Gabriela Rangal downed Chattanooga's Sarah Evans and Tarah Garner 6-1, 6-4 in the open doubles semifinals. Local coaches and former UTC players Sue Bartlett and Sue Webb lost by the same score to fourth-seeded Nijssen and Mimi Renaudin.