World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska was taken to tiebreaks in both sets by unheralded American Jamie Hampton before edging her way into the final of the ASB Tennis Classic.
Top-seeded Radwanska had dropped only 10 games on her way to yesterday’s semi-final, sweeping her first three matches in straight sets, but was fully taxed by the 71st-ranked Hampton before winning 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3).
Poland’s Radwanska will now face third-seeded former champion Yanina Wickmayer in today’s final.
Wickmayer reached her third singles final in Auckland when she beat eighth-seeded German Mona Barthel 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/3).
Radwanska, ranked 14 places above her nearest rival in Auckland, had looked a cut above the field as she eased into the semi-finals with wins over fomer champion Greta Arn, Simona Halep and Elena Vesnina.
The slightly built Pole plays mostly from behind the baseline, keeping the ball in play through long rallies and often catching out opponents with her ungainly, crouching forehand and off-balance backhand.
However, she found it difficult against Hampton, who had beaten defending champion Zheng Jie, local hope Marina Erakovic and Kiki Bertens on her way to the last four.
After the first set had gone with serve to 5-5, Hampton became the first player in Auckland to break Radwanska’s serve and led 5-6.
She held a set point on serve, but double faulted, then dropped serve to cause a tiebreak.
Neither player served well in the tiebreak, put off by a swirling wind, and there were six mini breaks before Radwanska clinched the game and set in 61 minutes.
The Pole then dashed to a 4-0 lead in the second set as Hampton seemed deterred by her failure to convert her set-point chance.
However, just as it seemed Radwanska would stroll to victory, the American won the next four games to level the set and force a second tiebreak.
Again, Radwanska managed to win a handful of vital points to clinch the set and match.
SHENZHEN OPEN
AFP, BEIJING
Chinese tennis star Li Na cruised into the final of the Shenzhen Open with a straight sets victory in her semi-final match yesterday, putting her in pole position to claim her seventh WTA singles title.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite