Taiwanese sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan crashed out of the first round of the doubles at the Family Circle Cup on Tuesday.
The Chan sisters, the third seeds in Charleston, South Carolina, after finishing runners-up at last year’s tournament, fell in a 2-6, 6-0, 10-4 defeat to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Ajla Tomljanovic.
The American-Croatian duo saved four of six break-point chances and converted three of six to triumph in a hard-fought contest that lasted 58 minutes.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals on Tuesday were reigning champions Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who defeated the Chan sisters 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 in last year’s final.
The Spanish-Kazakh pairing defeated American wild cards Madison Keys and Lisa Raymond 7-5, 7-5 in 1 hour, 27 minutes.
In the singles, defending champion Andrea Petkovic opened with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Chanelle Scheepers.
Petkovic, seeded third, lost the opening set 6-1, before taking 12 of the next 15 games to advance.
Others advancing were fifth seed Angelique Kerber, sixth seed Jelana Jankovic and eighth seed Caroline Garcia.
The top two seeds, Eugenie Bouchard and Ekaterina Makarova, were due to start play at the clay court tournament yesterday.
Petkovic was a surprise champion a year ago, but it looked as if she would be a surprise early loser defending her title.
However, Petkovic turned things around to win her seventh straight match at the Family Circle Tennis Center.
Other winners Tuesday were past champion, ninth seed Sam Stosur; 12th seed Belinda Bencic and last year’s losing finalist Jana Cepelova.
KATOWICE OPEN
AP, KATOWICE, Poland
Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska eased into the second round of the Katowice Open on Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.
World No. 9 Radwanska next faces another Belgian, An-Sophie Mestach, who defeated Polish wild-card Magdalena Frech 6-2, 6-1.
Home-court advantage did not help Radwanska’s younger sister, Urzula, who was defeated 6-0, 6-1 by Elizaveta Kulichkova of Russia.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and