Like in their first singles match on Friday, Taiwan fought hard against China in Davis Cup play yesterday, but ultimately lost 6-7 (4/7), 6-7 (4/7), 3-6 in the doubles.
China now lead their Asia Oceania Group 1 first-round playoff 2-1 after Li Zhe and Zhang Ze came out on top over Taiwan’s Hsieh Cheng-peng and Lee Hsin-han on the second day at the Yangming Tennis Courts in Greater Kaohsiung.
The two teams split their singles matches on Friday.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
The reverse singles are due to be be played today, with Taiwan’s Yang Tsung-hua facing off against Zhang first. If Yang wins, Taiwan’s fate in the rubber match that follows will be in the hands of Jimmy Wang, who plays Wu Di.
The loser of the tie will face a second relegation playoff against New Zealand in a last chance to avoid falling to Group 2.
Meanwhile, Australia advanced to the World Group playoffs by winning the doubles yesterday to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead over South Korea in Brisbane.
The Australia combination of Chris Guccione and Marinko Matosevic downed Jeong Suk-young and Seol Jae-min in the doubles rubber, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to clinch their Asia Oceania Group 1 second-round tie.
The 28-time winners Australia will now bid to return to the Davis Cup elite group via the playoffs in September.
Bernard Tomic and Matthew Ebden gave Australia a 2-0 lead over South Korea with straight-set wins in the opening singles on Friday.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set