Latisha Chan (詹詠然) and Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) on Saturday clawed their way to the Nature Valley International women’s doubles title in Eastbourne, England.
The Taiwanese sisters defeated Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the US 2-6, 6-3, 10-6 to take home the pairs title for the first time since 2014.
It was their 13th doubles title, and the third Nature Valley International title for Latisha and a second for Hao-ching.
Photo: CNA
The sisters got off to a slow start in the first set, but staged a comeback, winning the second set and forcing a super tiebreak.
In the tense first-to-10 decider, they stepped up their game to win 10-6.
Latisha Chan, the former doubles world No. 1, had plenty of praise for their opponents afterward.
“The first set they were playing very aggressive, and then they were playing very well — it’s really hard to tell it was their first time playing together,” she was quoted by the WTA as saying.
“We were just staying focused, concentrating, and we knew we would have our chance to come back, and we just played our tennis, not to play the score,” she said.
The Chan sisters won the Eastbourne title in 2014, when they beat Switzerland’s Martina Hingis and Italy’s Flavia Pennetta.
Latisha Chan later paired up with Hingis, winning the title again with her in 2017.
“The fans here support singles, doubles, men’s, women’s — they come out and give the best support that they can,” she told the WTA.
Latisha Chan also said that she also enjoyed Eastbourne’s atmosphere.
“It’s huge for players, to bring our best performances,” she said.
Next stop for Chan sisters is Wimbledon, which opens today and where they are to compete in the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles.
“We are very happy to have won here, to [give us] confidence to play Wimbledon,” Chan Hao-ching told the WTA.
“We hope we can have really good results at Wimbledon,” she added.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2