Julia Goerges yesterday cruised into the Final of the WTA Auckland Classic, but faced an overnight wait to find out if she would face Caroline Wozniacki or Sloane Stephens after rain suspended their match.
Fifth seed Stephens was threatening an upset with a 5-2 lead over former world No. 1 Wozniacki and was serving for the first set when the rain, which had repeatedly disrupted play through the day, brought an end to proceedings.
The match was scheduled to resume early today, with the winner then having only a few hours’ break before facing Goerges in the final.
Photo: AFP
The 27-year-old German took 66 minutes to defeat qualifier Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-4, 6-2 in the first semi-final.
Goerges, who last claimed a title in Stuttgart in 2011, said she took a lot of confidence from the ease of her semi-final victory.
“I must say it feels good to be in a Final again after such a long time,” she said. “Overall it was a very good match from my side. I played very aggressive, served decent in the first set, the second set there wasn’t a good percentage of first serves.”
Goerges said she had no preference about who she would play against in today’s Final.
Head-to-head Goerges is 1-1 with Stephens and 4-4 with Wozniacki, who in their last meet tipped out of last year’s French Open in straight sets.
“It’s going to be a tough match, it doesn’t matter who is on the other side,” Goerges said.
SHENZHEN OPEN
AFP, BEIJING
World No. 97 Alison Riske yesterday earned a shot at giant-killing glory at the WTA Shenzhen Open when she won her semi-final to set up a showdown with top seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
The low-ranking American defeated Hungary’s Timea Babos 6-2, 6-4, in a 1 hour and 18 minute match littered with breaks, with seven of the 18 games going against the serve.
The 25-year-old, who started playing at the age of three, has only ever reached one WTA Final before when she won the 2014 Tianjin Open, also in China.
However, she has a tough task ahead if she is to win the US$500,000 tournament, with Poland’s Radwanska ranked 92 places above her.
The 2012 Wimbledon runner-up, and winner of the WTA finals in Singapore in November, reached the Final by defeating Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6-2, 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