Defending champion Li Na and Peng Shuai advanced yesterday to set up an all-Chinese final at the Shenzhen Open.
The top-seeded Li defeated Germany’s Annika Beck 6-1, 6-3, while fifth-seeded Peng advanced in a walkover when the US’ Vania King withdrew with a right thigh injury.
“It’ll be a tough match tomorrow [today],” Li said. “We’re quite familiar with each other and have improved a lot over the past year. But no matter what, I’m quite looking forward to the final.”
Li was leading 6-1, 5-0 yesterday when Beck came back to reel off three straight games, but the former French Open champion regrouped to close out the match.
King said she began feeling pain in her leg during her win over second-seeded Sara Errani in the second round and pulled out to rest before the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 13.
“It was a really difficult decision for me to pull out because I hate losing and not competing,” King said. “But I just have to look out for my health.”
Today’s final is set to be just the second in WTA history to feature two Chinese players. Li lost the first when she retired against Zheng Jie at Oeiras in 2006.
Li has a 5-1 record against Peng, including a 4-0 mark at tournaments in China.
AUCKLAND CLASSIC
AFP, AUCKLAND
Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic maintained her sizzling form yesterday to storm into the final of the Auckland Classic, setting up a decider with seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams.
Second seed Ivanovic dominated her doubles partner Kirsten Flipkens 6-0, 7-6 (7-3) in their semi-final, while Williams benefited from a walkover after fifth seed Jamie Hampton pulled out with an injury.
Ivanovic made the perfect start, breaking Flipkens three times to take the first set from the Belgian 6-0 in just 22 minutes.
Flipkens, who committed 13 unforced errors in the first set and three double faults, recovered to force a tie-break in the second.
However, Ivanovic, who has not dropped a set in the tournament, never looked troubled and comfortably wrapped up the match.
The win gave the Serb, who has failed to capitalize on her sole Grand Slam success at the 2008 French Open, the chance to win her first WTA Tour title since November 2011.
It will be a confidence booster for the world No. 16 ahead of today’s showdown with Williams, who has won eight of their nine previous meetings.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but