Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England, yesterday.
The Taiwanese duo saved four of five break-point chances and converted three of seven to defeat US pairing Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) in 1 hour, 18 minutes to set up a quarter-final with Zimbabwe’s Cara Black and Sania Mirza of India.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals on Tuesday was Taiwanese world doubles No. 1 Hsieh Su-wei and her partner Timea Babos of Hungary, who cruised past Alicja Rosolska of Poland and Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain 6-1, 6-2 to set up a quarter-final against either top-seeded Italian duo Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci or Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic and Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
In the men’s doubles on Tuesday, Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun and his partner, Mikhail Kukushkin of Russia, lost 6-3, 6-3 to top seeds Alexander Peya of Austria and Brazil’s Bruno Soares.
In the women’s singles on Tuesday, former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka lost her first match after a three-month injury layoff to Italy’s Camila Giorgi.
The two-time Australian Open champion, who had not played since early March due to a foot injury, managed to stand the pace for nearly three hours before losing 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to her 42nd-ranked opponent.
“I wanted a competitive match to test myself,” an upbeat Azarenka, 24, said after the first-round tie at the pre-Wimbledon grass-court tournament. “The most important thing was that I was there playing and I was healthy. I can always get better from here. I didn’t expect a perfect match, but there are a lot of positive things that came out. I wanted to test myself and that’s what I did. It feels great to know that I’m able to move how I want and not have my face like this [flinching] every time I step.”
The Belarussian rallied from 4-2 down to win the first set, but Giorgi, who has already beaten top 10 players Dominika Cibulkova and Maria Sharapova this season, fought back.
The Italian, who played a first WTA Tour final this year in Poland, came back in the second set and won despite nine double faults after taking a 5-0 lead.
Giorgi, whose father-coach Sergio was going through every emotion in a dramatic display in the players’ box, leveled at a set each as world No. 8 Azarenka’s early confidence appeared to fade.
The third set was tight until the seed gave away the sixth game for 2-4 with a double fault, only to break back in the 10th to make it 5-5.
Azarenka was then broken for 5-6, with Giorgi serving out a game later as her opponent’s return sailed long on match point.
The Italian next plays 109th-ranked British wild-card Johanna Konta.
“I had the desire, it was so important to see where I’m at and what I have to work on,” said Azarenka, a semi-finalist in Wimbledon in 2011 and 2012. “I need to work on timing, reaction and decisionmaking, things that you miss when you are away for a long time.”
Second seed Petra Kvitova, a 2011 finalist, made a winning start over fellow Czech Lucie Safarova, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), advancing on a third match point, Madison Keys of the US dealt third seed Jankovic a third career loss as the Serb fell 6-3, 6-3, while Lauren Davis of the US knocked out Italian seventh seed Errani 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
In the men’s singles, Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen began with an upset of seventh seed Santiago Giraldo, defeating the Colombian 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 after suffering a leg problems last week in the third round at Queen’s in London, while Eduardo Roger-Vasselin beat Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-4.
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