Top seed Russia snuck into the mixed teams Hopman Cup final with a win over France in their final Group A tie in Perth yesterday.
Beaten by Australia in their first tie, the Russians needed to win 3-0 to reach the final at the expense of the French, and managed to do so despite an injury scare for Nadia Petrova.
Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov both won their singles matches in straight sets to secure the tie, and then beat the French pairing of Tatiana Golovin and Jerome Haehnel in straight sets in the mixed doubles to win their way through to today's final.
Whichever team won the mixed doubles would play in the final, but the Russians were always in control and won 6-4 6-2 in just over an hour.
It is the first time the Russians have reached the final and they will play either India, Spain or the Czech Republic.
The French won their first two ties and had been the only unbeaten team in Group A, but their decision to forfeit the mixed doubles on the opening night ultimately hurt their chances of reaching the final.
Although both the French and Russians won two ties, the Russians advanced as they had won more matches.
Florent Serra out
Defending Adelaide International champion Florent Serra is out of the tournament after retiring during the third set of his match against fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon at Memorial Drive in Adelaide, Australia, yesterday.
Serra had just broken back to to level the match at 5-7, 6-2, 1-1 in the third set when he withdrew with illness, allowing Sweden's Joachim Johansson to go through to the quarter-finals, having beaten Simon in their meeting on Wednesday.
The withdrawal highlighted heatwave conditions endured by the players here this week, with temperatures reaching 37?C in the city during the afternoon.
Martina Hingis impresses
Former world No. 1 Martina Hingis showed she would be a major player at this year's Australian Open as she cruised into the semi-finals of the Australian Women's Hardcourt championships yesterday.
Hingis, who made her comeback at this tournament last year, was clinical as she dispatched Colombia's Catalina Castano 6-3, 6-1 in 68 minutes.
She now faces unseeded Italian Tathiana Garbin in today's semi-finals following Garbin's 7-5, 6-2 win over Russia's Elena Vesnina.
Jankovic advances
Top seed Jelena Jankovic stepped up a gear yesterday to easily dispose of former champion Eleni Daniilidou and book a place in the semi-finals of the Auckland Classic.
Jankovic ended her Greek opponent's hopes of being the first three-time winner of the US$145,000 tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set