The Chan sisters survived another second-set wobble to advance to the semi-finals of the doubles at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo yesterday, while fellow Taiwanese Chuang Chia-jung avenged her doubles defeat to Japanese duo Misaki Doi and Nara Kurumi in the semi-finals of the Japan Open last week.
Second seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan saved one of two break points and converted three of four to claim the first set of their semi-final 6-1, but then conceded three breaks and converted just one of four as Olga Savchuk and Xu Yifan rallied to win the second set 6-2.
The Chan sisters then fought back to claim the super tiebreak 10-8 against their Ukrainian-Chinese opponents in 1 hour, 11 minutes, the second straight match in which they were taken to the brink after comprehensively winning the first set.
Photo: AFP
The second seeds won 53 of the 103 points contested on Court 1 at the Ariake Coliseum to set up a semi-final against Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato, who defeated fellow Japanese pairing Misa Eguchi and Junri Namigata in the first quarter-final played on Center Court.
Chuang and Kateryna Bondarenko completed a 6-3, 6-4 victory in 1 hour, 17 minutes in the final match on Center Court.
The Taiwanese-Ukrainian pairing saved four of five break points and converted three of five, winning 59 of the 103 points contested to set up a semi-final against third-seeded Spanish duo Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro, who advanced with a walkover.
In the singles, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia reached the quarter-finals by beating sixth-seeded Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-4, 6-4.
Cibulkova improved her record to 3-0 against Suarez Navarro, who had not won a match in seven tournaments before beating Bondarenko in the first round.
The Slovakian faces second seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, who defeated Camila Giorgi of Italy 7-5, 6-2.
Seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska also reached the final eight by beating Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-1 and will play Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who eliminated the last remaining Japanese player in the singles by defeating Nara 6-2, 6-4.
The 11th-ranked Pliskova served 10 aces and rallied from 4-1 down in the second set to clinch the match.
KOREA OPEN
American Sloane Stephens cruised past Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm to advance to the quarter-finals of the WTA Korea Open yesterday.
Third-seeded Stephens defeated 44-year-old Date-Krumm, champion in Seoul in 2009, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, ranked 136th in the world, earned a surprise win over Magdalena Rybarikova, currently ranked 73rd, defeating the Slovak 6-3, 6-3.
GUANGZHOU OPEN
Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic defeated top seed Simona Halep in straight sets in quarter-final play yesterday in the WTA Guangzhou International Women’s Open. Unseeded Allertova pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far, beating the Romanian 6-4, 6-3.
In another upset, unseeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium defeated Romania’s Monica Niculescu, the sixth seed, 6-2, 6-2.
Sara Errani overwhelmed eighth seed Zheng Saisai, China’s top player, 6-1, 6-0, leaving no more Chinese singles players in the event.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
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