Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei upset the eighth seed to advance to the second round of the singles at the Japan Open yesterday, while the Chan sisters and Chuang Chia-jung were also victorious in the doubles.
Hsieh got off to a flyer against Polona Hercog in Tokyo, converting three of six break points to claim the first set 6-1, but the Slovenian world No. 59 fought back to win a closely contested second.
However, the Taiwanese world No. 113 was not to be denied as she completed a 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 victory in 2 hours, 10 minutes.
Hsieh saved eight of 16 break points and converted 10 of 18, winning 115 of the 216 points contested to advance to a second-round clash with world No. 78 Kurumi Nara of Japan, who defeated Andreea Mitu of Romania 6-1, 6-4.
Also advancing in the singles were Kateryna Bondarenko, who ousted top seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-4, Jarmila Gajdosova, Johanna Larsson, Nao Hibino, Risa Ozaki, Irina Falconi, Zheng Saisai, Magda Linette and second seed Zarina Diyas.
In the doubles, top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan took just 56 minutes to dispatch Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan and Australia’s Gajdosova 6-3, 6-2.
The Taiwanese sisters saved two of four break points and converted five of six, winning 54 of the 93 points contested to set up a quarter-final against Diyas of Kazakhstan and Nicole Melichar of the US, who defeated Japanese wild-cards Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
Second seeded Chuang and Liang Chen of China cruised past Christina McHale of the US and Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia 6-1, 6-2 in just 49 minutes.
The cross-strait duo saved one of three break points and converted six of nine, winning 51 of the 83 points contested to set up a quarter-final clash with Japanese pairing Shuko Aoyama and Makoto Ninomiya, who defeated Alexandra Panova of Russia and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-2.
Taiwan’s Chan Chin-wei and Darija Jurak of Croatia were edged 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/3), 10-5 by third seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska in 1 hour, 51 minutes.
The Canadian-Polish duo saved six of nine break points and converted three of 11 to advance to a quarter-final clash with Ukrainian pairing Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk, who crushed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands and Larsson of Sweden 6-1, 6-3.
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
Backup quarterback Luke Weaver on Wednesday night threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left, as the University of Hawaii rallied for a 35-31 comeback victory over the University of California, Berkeley in a thrilling Hawaii Bowl. Weaver entered the game after Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play. With the Rainbow Warriors (9-4) in range for a tying field goal, coach Timmy Chang took a shot at the end zone, and Cenacle got between two defensive backs and made the contested catch. “How amazing is that?” Chang said. “It’s a program that is built
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue
RSS