China’s Peng Shuai beat Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-1, 6-4 to claim the OEC Taipei Ladies Open singles title yesterday, while Taiwanese duo Chang Kai-chen and Chuang Chia-chung defeated Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Sania Mirza of India 6-4, 6-2 to land the doubles title.
It was No. 5 seed Peng’s first tournament win at the Taipei Arena, while Chuang defended her title, albeit with a different partner, having triumphed last year with compatriot Chan Yung-jan.
The contest between Peng and Morita was more even than the score suggests, but the world No. 95’s victory owed much to her ability to conjure up superb winners when it mattered most.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Morita dropped her serve in the fourth game of the first set, but Peng had to fight back from 0-40 in the next, an ace making it deuce. That was only the beginning of the drama though, as seven more deuces followed, as well as three more break-points that the Japanese failed to grab. Consecutive aces from Peng won the game.
A fantastic forehand at full stretch that landed smack on the line earned Peng another break in the next game and she took the set with a spectacular running backhand on her first set-point in game seven.
Both players had trouble holding their serve in the second set, but a cross-court backhand winner from Peng earned the most decisive break to leave her to serve for the title at 5-4.
Photo: EPA
Another backhand winner made it match-point and a forehand winner ended the contest.
Peng proved a worthy champion, having lost only one set all week, and displayed the kind of form that might see her get somewhere near her previous best singles ranking of 31 in the near future.
The 24-year-old, who overcame a childhood heart problem before embarking on her tennis career, must have a good shout at claiming gold on home soil at the Asian Games in Guangzhou later this month.
Photo: CNA
In a courtside interview after the match, Morita, who is also taking part in the Asian Games, said she would be back in Taipei next year. No doubt she’ll be hoping to make it third time lucky, having lost in last year’s final too.
In the day’s second title decider, Chuang showed why she is regarded as one of the best doubles players in the world, while Chang looked like the latest addition to an impressive collection of Taiwanese female doubles players.
Their comfortable victory over the No. 2 seeds, Hsieh and Mirza, both accomplished doubles players, was achieved despite them not being regular doubles partners and they too only dropped one set all week.
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Reuters, BALI, Indonesia
Ana Ivanovic ended the season on a positive note by defeating Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) in the final of the Tournament of Champions in Bali yesterday.
Ivanovic weathered some heavy hitting from her Russian opponent, before breaking to lead 4-2 and she then won the final 11 points of the first set.
Kleybanova broke to lead 2-1 in the second, but Ivanovic immediately broke back with a stunning winner down the line and her resilience under pressure, together with some fine serving, continued to give her the advantage.
Ivanovic faced a crisis at 5-5, but saved two break-points and went on to claim victory with her eighth ace of the match.
In the third-fourth place playoff earlier yesterday, Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm defeated Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-5, 7-5.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Jorge Fernandez was not going to attend his daughter Leylah’s all-teen US Open final showdown yesterday with Britain’s Emma Raducanu over fears about messing with routines that are working. Jorge Fernandez, a former soccer player from Ecuador who became a tennis coach for his daughter, was to watch from home in Florida — as he has for two weeks — when 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez was to meet 18-year-old qualifier Raducanu for the title. “No, I’m not going to be there,” Jorge Fernandez told US Open reporters on a conference call. “I’m extremely superstitious. My daughter is as well. I’ve been using the
FAIRY-TALE RUN: Emma Raducanu, 18, is trying to become the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977 British 18-year-old Emma Raducanu on Thursday became the first qualifier in history to make a Grand Slam final when she reached a fairy-tale US Open decider against another teenager, 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez. Raducanu, who was virtually unknown even in Britain at the start of the year, is to become the youngest Grand Slam finalist in 17 years after beating Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4 in a nerveless display. “I’m in the final and I can’t actually believe it,” Raducanu said. Fernandez, a 73rd-ranked left-hander, beat second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-4 for her third Open win
POWERFUL FIGURE: Sheikh Ahmad led the OCA from 1991 to Friday, and was also an influential member of the IOC until 2018 and other sports bodies, including FIFA Veteran Indian sports administrator Raja Randhir Singh yesterday took over as head of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) after its Kuwaiti former leader was sentenced to jail in a forgery case. Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad Al Sabah, a member of Kuwait’s ruling family, stepped aside as Asia’s top sports official after the Geneva court on Friday found him guilty over a plot against political rivals in the Gulf state. Singh, 74, said in a statement that he was taking over as interim president as the longest-serving member of the OCA executive. Taiwan’s national Olympic committee is a member of the OCA. “I have every
REVENUE SHARING: The US Soccer Federation said it believes that the best path forward for the men’s and women’s national soccer teams is a single pay structure The US Soccer Federation (USSF) on Tuesday said that it has offered “identical” contracts to its men’s and women’s national teams as part of efforts to end a long-running gender pay dispute. A statement from the USSF said that the proposed contracts had been sent to the players’ associations acting on behalf of the US men’s national team (USMNT) and US women’s national team (USWNT), with the goal being to bring the national squads under a single collective bargaining agreement (CBA). “US Soccer firmly believes that the best path forward for all involved, and for the future of the sport in the
RSS