Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and her partner Timea Babos of Hungary crashed out of the quarter-finals of the Aegon International women’s doubles yesterday in Eastbourne, England.
World doubles No. 1 Hsieh was playing in her final warmup tournament before joining up with China’s Peng Shuai to defend their Wimbledon title next week.
Hsieh and Babos fell to a 6-2, 6-4 defeat against top-seeded Italian duo Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in 59 minutes in a match held over from the previous day.
Photo: AFP
Errani and Vinci were due to face Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan in the final match on Centre Court later yesterday in the semi-finals.
In the women’s singles on Thursday, former champions Caroline Wozniacki and Ekaterina Makarova headed in different directions in the quarter-finals.
Wozniacki, the champion in 2009, held off a strong challenge from Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-2.
Photo: AFP
Makarova, the 2010 champion from Russia, fell to fifth-seed Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-1, with the German avenging her second-round defeat to Makarova last year.
Meanwhile, 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova withdrew with a right-hamstring injury, but expects to play at Wimbledon next week.
Wozniacki and Giorgi were interrupted in the second set when a spectator was removed from the stands on a stretcher as Giorgi led 4-3 on serve.
Photo: AFP
When play resumed, Giorgi failed to win a break point to lead 5-3 and Wozniacki went on to win three straight games to level at one-set each.
Wozniacki remained under pressure in the final set, fighting off two break points, before breaking to lead 2-1. A double fault at 4-2 left Wozniacki serving for victory and in sight of her first title since October last year.
Kerber fought off four break points just to hold for 1-1, before taking charge against Makarova, breaking twice to take the set.
In the second set, she needed four break points to win the first game, before once more dominating Makarova.
“It was not as easy as the score said, because there were tough rallies,” Kerber said. “She’s a great player on grass, so I was just focusing on me, trying to be aggressive and take my chances. I did a good job.”
Kvitova’s withdrawal gave British wild-card Heather Watson a walkover into the semi-finals.
Watson meets Madison Keys, who beat fellow American Lauren Davis, a qualifier, 6-2, 6-1. Wozniacki faces Kerber.
Men’s top-seed Richard Gasquet also reached the semis, beating Slovak Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-4.
It is his third semi-final of the year and comes after he was sidelined for more than three months with a back injury.
The Frenchman, who claimed the title in 2005 and 2006 when the event was held in Nottingham, broke for 3-1.
That was enough to earn him the opening set and in the second set, he again fought off a break point, before breaking to lead 4-3.
Gasquet is playing only his third tournament since March and admits that although he is progressing, he is still not fully fit.
Gasquet next faces Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, who beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
Spanish defending champion Feliciano Lopez defeated Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 6-4 yesterday after their match was canceled overnight due to rain.
Lopez faces Sam Querrey, after the American won his match against Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 on Thursday.
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