Taiwan's Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung made an impressive start in their bid to win the women's doubles title at the Australian Open yesterday, earning a comfortable straight-sets victory over Alicja Rosolska and Maria Emilia Salerni.
Last year's finalists made short work of the Polish/Argentine duo, taking the first set 6-3 before further asserting their dominance by winning the second 6-1.
Meanwhile, Hsieh Su-wei claimed another Melbourne victory, this time with the help of Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva. After reaching the third round of women's singles on Wednesday, Hsieh teamed up with the Russian in the doubles yesterday to win a see-saw match against Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in three sets.
Hsieh and Kudryavtseva won the first set 6-4 before their opponents leveled the match, winning the second set by the same score. Hsieh and Kudryavtseva then took the deciding set 6-4.
The 22-year-old Taiwanese player moves into unchartered territory today when she plays Aravane Rezai of France in round three of the singles. It is the first time Hsieh has progressed so far in a Grand Slam tournament, and the prize of a probable match against world No. 1 Justine Henin awaits the winner.
First Hsieh has to get past Rezai, no easy task as the 19-year-old from St Etienne is ranked 89 spots above her. Rezai reached the fourth round of the US Open in 2006 and is in good form, having reached the final of the WTA tournament in Auckland earlier this month and disposed of No. 13 seed Tatiana Golovin in the previous round.
Past form offers no clues as to the result of today's clash, as Hsieh and Rezai have yet to meet in a WTA tournament.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
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