Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was broken in her opening service game in her semi-final against top seed Caroline Wozniacki at the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, but the Taiwanese world No. 181 broke back in the fifth.
World No. 5 Wozniacki then broke back in the sixth, grabbing a 5-2 lead and went on to win the first set 6-2.
The match was ongoing as of press time last night.
“Playing against top players is always tough, so I won’t be thinking about who I’m playing against,” Hsieh told the WTA Web site following her quarter-final victory.
“I will concentrate on bringing my best game to the court and enjoying the semi-final,” she said.
Earlier, world No. 94 Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania upset fourth seed Jarmila Gajdosova in a marathon semi-final that lasted 3 hours, 14 minutes.
The Australian world No. 52 created 25 break-point opportunities, but could only convert four.
Dulgheru converted four of 10 to complete a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) victory and advance to today’s final at the Royal Selangor Golf Club.
In the second doubles semi-final, third-seeded Ukrainian duo Yuliya Beygelzimer and Olga Savchuk stunned top seeds Darija Jurak of Croatia and Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1.
They face the Chinese pairing of Liang Chan and Wang Yafan in today’s final.
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