Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen was defeated by top seed Jarmila Groth in the quarter-finals of the OEC Taipei Ladies Open yesterday. Chang was unable to overcome a ranking difference of more than 50 places as Groth won 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4 against her 19-year-old opponent.
Groth will face Japan’s Ayumi Morita for a place in tomorrow’s final after the fourth-seeded right-hander earned an emphatic 6-2, 6-1 victory over China’s Wang Qiang.
Groth took the top prize at the Taipei Arena in 2008.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
In yesterday’s other quarter-finals, second seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand beat Japan’s Junri Namigata 6-3, 6-1 to set up a clash with Peng Shuai of China.
The Hunan-born world No. 95 defeated Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.
Chang had some consolation later yesterday when she teamed up with fellow-Taiwanese Chuang Chia-jung to beat Elena Bogdan of Romania and Thailand’s Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 7-6 (7), 6-3 in the doubles.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BALI
AFP, NUSA DUA, INDONESIA
French defending champion Aravane Rezai suffered a crushing 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Alisa Kleybanova yesterday at the Bali Tournament of Champions.
PHOTO: EPA
Fourth seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium then lost to Slovak wildcard Daniela Hantuchova later yesterday, Hantuchova claiming the match 6-4, 7-6 (5).
This left no seeds in the tournament, following the elimination of top seed Li Na of China and No. 3 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Thursday.
The Tournament of Champions brings together winners of WTA international-level tournaments this year.
Rezai won the inaugural title a year ago on the tropical island resort, beating fellow Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, who retired injured after the first set of their final.
World No. 27 Kleybanova’s victory was her fourth in a row against Rezai, 18th in the world.
The Russian allowed Rezai one game to start the match then swept the first set with six straight games. She stuttered briefly in the second set as Rezai broke in the opening game and looked set for a fightback.
However, the effort on a court laid down inside a beachfront hotel ballroom fizzled, with Kleybanova breaking straight back.
The Russian moved to a commanding position at 4-2 and fired her fourth ace to hold for 5-2.
A game later, Rezai was beaten after having her serve broken for the sixth time, with Seoul and Kuala Lumpur champion Kleybanova in a good position to challenge for a third Asian trophy this year.
additional reporting by staff writer
SWISS INDOORS
AFP, PARIS
Defending champion Novak Djokovic and fourth seed Andy Roddick both reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Swiss Indoors after straight sets wins here on Thursday.
Second seed Djokovic won 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) against Finn Jarkko Nieminen, a losing finalist in 2007, having registered seven aces and converted a single break of serve.
Roddick dealt with an unknown quantity in Kazakh Andrey Golubev, winning 6-3, 6-4.
Djokovic, who interrupted the three-year title streak of Roger Federer here last year, will compete for a semi-final place against Dutchman Robin Haase.
Roddick takes on David Nalbandian, whom he last faced in 2006.
Nalbandian, the 2002 champion, reached the quarter-finals of one of his favorite events by upsetting Croatian sixth seed Marin Cilic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
In addition to the trophy he won on his Basel debut eight years ago, the Argentine has finished runner-up at the St Jakobshalle in 2003, 2004 and 2008.
Nalbandian missed his annual appointment at the indoor event last year during a medical time-out following hip surgery in May last year.
“I feel good now. Who can say 100 percent after an operation? But I made a good recovery,” the former world No. 3 said. “I knew that if the surgery worked, I’d be back in tennis.”
“If not, well ... I had no choice, the hip pain was too much,” he added.
Nalbandian said he was approaching the end of what he called a “strange season.”
“I couldn’t make a very clean start [in February] after my surgery,” he said. “I had some muscular problems. But I played well during the American summer and started feeling better.”
Cilic was Nalbandian’s victim last August in the Washington semi-finals as he claimed a post-surgery title.
The Basel loss all but ends any chance Cilic had of qualifying for one of the three spots remaining in the eight-man field for the World Tour Finals, which start in London in just under three weeks.
Cilic broke into the ranking top 10 for the first time earlier this year but he has struggled in recent months to maintain that form and now stands 15th, having failed to win back-to-back matches since August.
Radek Stepanek will line up as the next opponent for Federer, with the Swiss home favorite and top seed hoping he can still do no wrong after two imposing victories at the hall where he got his start in the sport as a teenage ballboy.
Stepanek booked his place in the next round by beating Colombian Santiago Giraldo 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Serb Viktor Troicki advanced without firing a shot when Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu was forced to forfeit due to lower back pain.
However, Richard Gasquet earned a victory as he bids for a place in the French Davis Cup finals team against Serbia next month, beating German qualifier Tobias Kamke 6-4, 7-5.
VALENCIA OPEN
AP AND REUTERS,
VALENCIA
Sweden’s Robin Soderling became the fifth man to win 50 matches this year when he defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the Valencia Open on Thursday.
The second-seeded Soderling reached 50 for the first time in his career to reach a tournament quarter-finals for the 13th time this year.
Eighth-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils, last week’s champion in Montpellier, beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-2, 6-4.
Home fans cheered fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain to victory over Russian qualifier Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-1.
“I served well throughout the match and played a very organized game, without making many mistakes,” Ferrer said.
Sixth-seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia downed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-6 (0), 6-2 for only the second time in eight matchups.
“If I lose I am constantly thinking I have done badly and that is why it’s so important to do well here and get my confidence back,” he said.
Italy’s Potito Starace topped Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-2, and Spain’s Marcel Granollers defeated countryman Pablo Andujar, 6-2, 6-2.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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