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Taiwanese trio progress at US Open

Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan returns a shot against Evgeniya Rodina of Russia during a first-round match at the US Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in the Flushing neighborhood of New York’s Queens borough on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP

Taiwanese players recorded three wins out of three to make it a Tuesday to remember at Flushing Meadows in New York.

Fresh from a respectable run at the Beijing Olympics, Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳), Taiwan’s sole representative in the men’s singles, downed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador in a marathon five-set thriller.

Lu took the first set 6-4 before the veteran Ecuadorean won the second 6-1. Lapentti took charge by winning the third set 6-4 before Lu bounced back to take the fourth 6-4. The Taiwanese had the final say, claiming the deciding set 6-3 to earn victory in three hours, 56 minutes.

In the women’s singles Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) had a similarly tough battle before defeating Russia’s Alla Kudryavtseva in three sets, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

Compatriot Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) had an easier passage into the second round beating another Russian, Evgeniya Rodina, 6-2, 6-4 in 82 minutes.

All three Taiwanese recorded their best-ever singles performances at the US Open, none having progressed past the first round in their previous appearances in New York.

Next up for Lu is Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla, while Chan will play world No. 60 Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland.

Hsieh faces the toughest second-round task, as she has to take on No. 19 seed Nadia Petrova of Russia, who has twice reached the last eight in New York, in 2004 and 2005.
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