Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching crashed out of the first round of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, on Wednesday.
Chan, ranked 33rd in the world in doubles, and former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic were ousted by German duo Sabine Lisicki and Andrea Petkovic, despite fighting back from a set down to force a super tiebreak.
The Taiwanese-Serbian pairing fell to a 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 10-5 defeat in 1 hour, 26 minutes at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Photo: EPA
Chan and Jankovic saved three of six break-point chances, but they failed to convert any of the nine they created, while serving up six double faults to exit the tournament on the first day.
Fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei and Chuang Chia-jung were due to begin their women’s doubles campaigns yesterday.
Hsieh, the world No. 6, was due to team up with new partner Flavia Pennetta for the first time. The Taiwanese-Italian duo, seeded fourth, were due to take on Klaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland and Andreja Klepac of Slovenia.
Hsieh’s former partner, Sania Mirza, and her new partner, former world No. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland, are the top seeds at Indian Wells.
Chuang, the world No. 68, and Silvia Soler Espinosa of Spain were due to face a tough first-round match against second-seeded Russian duo Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
In the first round of the men’s singles, Taiwanese No. 1 Lu Yen-hsun, the world No. 59, has been drawn against world No. 58 Jack Sock of the US.
In the women’s singles on Wednesday, Monica Niculescu rolled over Aleksandra Krunic 6-2, 6-1 to book a second-round clash with Serena Williams, as the American returns to Indian Wells this week after a 14-year hiatus.
Reigning Australian Open champion Williams is one of 32 seeded players who received a first-round bye at the joint ATP and WTA tournament in the California desert.
Top seed Williams is competing in the tournament for the first time since her self-imposed exile began in 2001. She claimed two singles titles in 1999 and 2001.
“It’s exciting,” Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic said of Williams’ return to the event. “Obviously, you want to compete against the best.”
It will mark the first career meeting between Williams and Romania’s Niculescu when they square off tomorrow.
“I don’t really know what to expect because we haven’t played before, but obviously I know she has a lot of power and I know I’m going to run a lot. I’m just going to play my game,” Niculescu said.
Four-time men’s champion Roger Federer arrived in Indian Wells on Wednesday less than 24 hours after competing in an exhibition match against Grigor Dimitrov at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Federer, who won his seventh title in Dubai earlier this month, begins his Indian Wells campaign with a second-round match against either Jerzy Janowicz or Diego Schwartzman.
The world No. 2 said he is hitting the ball well and is feeling good about his chances this week.
“I don’t feel like I have that many bad days anymore,” Federer said. “Maybe sometimes you come out and it’s not working. That’s something that happened very few times in the years where I was very dominant. Otherwise, I feel like I am playing very well.”
Federer said he was going to use the time before his first match to adjust to the playing surface.
“I was always going to come here and make sure the first few days I get used to the courts. I had a bit of a slow week last week after Dubai, so I think the next few days are going to be important for me,” he said.
In other first-round women’s singles matches, British No. 1 Heather Watson, Mona Barthel and Irina Falconi emerged victorious.
Rising star Watson took on former top 15 player Julia Goerges of Germany in the first main-draw contest of the tournament.
Watson appeared to be headed for a straight-sets victory by compiling a 6-4, 5-3 lead, but Goerges rallied to win five games in a row to take the second set and go up a break at 1-0 in the third.
Still, Watson regrouped to beat Goerges 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
Wild-card Falconi of the US beat Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6 (8/6), 6-4.
The 24-year-old was one of seven Americans who took to the court on Wednesday.
Among the other matches, Germany’s Barthel outlasted Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-3, 5-7, 6-4; Vesnina beat qualifier Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine 6-3, 6-3; and qualifier Daria Gavrilova of Russia surprised Soler Espinosa 6-3, 6-4.
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