Taiwan's Chen Ti defeated Alex Kuznetsov but compatriot Jimmy Wang lost to Stefano Galvani in the first round of qualifying for the Wimbledon men's singles in Roehampton, London, on Monday.
Chen beat his American opponent 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a clash with No. 17 seed Jan Hernych. The Czech, ranked more than 150 places higher than the 25-year-old from Keelung, was a straight sets victor over Andrew Coelho of Australia.
Chen, who has yet to play at Wimbledon, needs to win two more matches before he earns a place in the draw for this year’s tournament.
Wang suffered a straight sets loss to his 204th-ranked Italian opponent, taking only one game in the first set and two in the second.
Wang, who has struggled with injury of late, has seen his ranking slip from 85 two years ago to 225.
More than 250 players are vying this week at Roehampton for 16 places in the men’s singles, 12 in the women’s singles’ and places for four pairs in the men’s and ladies’ doubles.
A number of famous names have gained entry into the Championships via the qualifiers over the years including John McEnroe in 1977, Boris Becker in 1984 and Goran Ivanisevic in 1988.
In 1999 Jelena Dokic reached the quarter-finals as a qualifier while Alexandra Stevenson went one better by reaching the semis.
Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun, whose ranking automatically qualifies him for a Wimbledon place, lost in straight sets to Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in the first round of the ATP tournament in Nottingham on Monday.
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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