Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Sania Mirza of India survived a huge scare at the Brisbane International yesterday to edge a step closer to their first WTA Tour final as partners.
The top seeds were taken to the brink of elimination by Australian sisters Anastasia and Arina Rodionova on Show Court 2, having to save a match-point opportunity before claiming a semi-final berth.
The Taiwanese-Indian duo broke their opponents serve at 4-3 in the first set on their fourth break-point chance after having led 40-0 to take a 5-3 lead and Mirza held her serve to claim the set 6-3.
Photo: Reuters
The Australians then rallied in the second set to take it 6-2, setting up a super tiebreak in which they had match point at 9-8.
Hsieh and Mirza won both their service games to save the match-point opportunity and take a 10-9 lead, before breaking the Australians’ serve to claim a 6-3, 2-6, 11-9 victory in 1 hour, 17 minutes.
It was not such a good start to the season for Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and her partner Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic, as they crashed to a surprise 7-5, 6-4 defeat to Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the final first-round match.
Photo taken from Hsieh Su-wei’s facebook page
The No. 3 seeds served up five double faults on their way to an early exit in 1 hour, 19 minutes earlier on Show Court 2.
In the men’s action, Japanese star Kei Nishikori enjoyed a solid start to the year when he downed the US’ Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-5.
Fifth seed Nishikori, who received a first-round bye, was never in any real trouble against Johnson, despite being made to work hard.
Photo: AFP
Nishikori enjoyed a breakthrough year last year, winning four tournaments and making the final of the US Open.
He broke the American once in each set and faced just two break points on his own serve early in the second. Afterward, he gave himself a passing mark for his first outing of the year.
“I thought it was pretty good — I served really well, I think. I saved a couple of break points with good serves and had a couple of aces,” Nishikori said.
The world No. 5 next takes on Bernard Tomic in the quarter-finals after the Australian defeated compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis 7-6 (7/2), 6-1.
Fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov was given a huge scare by Frenchman Jeremy Chardy before scraping through 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10/8).
Chardy was a clear frontrunner in the first set, with his booming forehand wreaking havoc, before the Bulgarian clawed his way back in the second. He broke Chardy’s serve in the ninth game then held to level the match at a set apiece.
Games went with serve in the third, ensuring a dramatic tiebreak that saw momentum swing back and forth between the two, who practice together regularly.
Chardy had two match points, but could not convert either, then saved two before Dimitrov clinched the match in 2 hours, 28 minutes.
“We practice together so there are no secrets when it comes to each other’s game,” Dimitrov said. “He played an outstanding set and a half, but I stayed positive throughout the match.”
Dimitrov is to play Martin Klizan in the quarter-finals after the Slovakian upset seventh seed and former finalist Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 1-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (9/7).
In the women’s draw, seventh seed Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro came back from losing the first set to down Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, while qualifying lucky loser Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia continued her good run by beating Pliskova 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, the 2012 champion, beat US qualifier Madison Brengle 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
At the Shenzhen Open, Taiwan’s Chan Chin-wei and Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia were taken to a super tiebreak by Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland and Russia’s Vera Zvonareva in their doubles quarter-final.
The fourth-seeded Taiwanese-Georgian duo bounced back from losing the first set 6-2 to claim the second 6-3, but crashed out of the tournament after losing the tiebreak 10-6 in 1 hour, 14 minutes.
In singles play, former world No. 2 Zvonareva, who has dropped to 250 in the rankings, reached her first WTA quarter-final since 2012 after overcoming Turkish qualifier Cagla Buyukakcay in straight sets.
The 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) second-round scoreline belied a hard-fought match for the Russian against a relative unknown who is ranked more than 100 slots above her.
Both players struggled to hold serve and in the second set, Zvonareva, 4-1 down, needed 10 deuces and saved five break points before winning a marathon sixth game.
The Turk took the next game and a 5-2 lead, but Zvonareva then went on a four-game rampage, breaking her opponent first to love and then to 15, establishing a 6-5 advantage and serving for the match — only to be broken to 15 herself, sending the set into a tie break.
The 30-year-old dominated from the start and took a 6-2 lead, but lost her first three match points before finally prevailing in 2 hours, 3 minutes.
She will face Swiss eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky in the quarter-final.
Top seed Simona Halep, Romania’s world No. 3, needed just over an hour to dispose of 17-year-old Russian wild-card Natalia Vikhlyantseva — ranked 584 — 6-2, 6-2.
On the ATP Tour on Tuesday, Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun began his singles campaign with a victory at the Chennai Open in India.
Sixth seed Lu, the world No. 38, defeated Indian hope Somdev Devvarman 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Two service breaks saw Lu race away with the first set, though Devvarman did break back, while the second set carried on in the same vein, with Lu making an early break and holding on for the victory.
“First match of the new season is always tough,” Lu told the Indo-Asian News Service. “Somdev and I prepared for the new season in Doha last week, so it’s always tough. I focused on taking the ball a bit early and attack his second serve. I am happy I won my first match.”
Lu faces world No. 49 Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round, after the Spaniard beat Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia 6-1, 6-3.
Also in Chennai, fifth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain rallied for a 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-3 win over Evgeny Donskoy.
In other keenly fought matches, Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis defeated Italian qualifier Luca Vanni 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 and Swedish wild-card entrant Elias Ymer got past Dutch player Igor Sijsling 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
The 83rd-ranked Berankis, the only Lithuanian to have broken into the top 100, breezed to a one-set lead, but then had to see off a determined challenge as Vanni hit 10 aces during the next two sets.
On the adjacent court, 18-year-old Ymer saved three break points in the first set and then took control of the decider to pull off an impressive victory over 81st-ranked Sijsling.
Japan’s Tatsuma Ito and Aljaz Bedene of Slovakia also advanced to the second round.
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