Hsieh Su-wei rallied from a set down to advance to a first-ever meeting with world No. 1 Serena Williams at the Australian Open yesterday, while fellow Taiwanese Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan were handed the second seeding in the women’s doubles at Melbourne Park.
World No. 90 Hsieh fought back from 3-6, 0-4 down against Latvian world No. 81 Jelena Ostapenko, completing a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory in a minute short of two hours on Court 5.
The Taiwanese saved seven of 13 break points and converted eight of 12, taking advantage of her opponent’s 15 double faults and 62 unforced errors to win 104 of the 197 points contested to advance to a second-round clash with 21-time Grand Slam winner Williams.
Photo: AFP
The Kaohsiung-born 30-year-old, who won her only two WTA Tour singles titles in Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou in 2012, but who has two Grand Slam doubles titles to her name, will have nothing to lose against the world’s top-ranked player, who has won 69 singles titles.
In the women’s doubles, the second-seeded Chan sisters were drawn against Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands in the first round.
Hsieh and her partner, Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia, were also placed and the bottom half of the draw. They face a tough opener against Japanese duo Misaki Doi and Nao Hibino.
Fellow Taiwanese Chuang Chia-jung and Chan Chin-wei were placed in the top half of the draw along with top seeds and hot favorites Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India.
Chuang and Olga Govortsova of Belarus were drawn against 13th seeds Julia Goerges of Germany and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, while Chan Chin-wei and Kurumi Nara of Japan face Vania King of the US and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia.
In the men’s doubles, Taiwanese pairing Hsieh Cheng-peng and Yang Tsung-hua were drawn against Daniel Nestor of Canada and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.
Luka Doncic on Monday scored 36 points as the in-form Los Angeles Lakers powered to their sixth straight victory with a 100-92 defeat of the Houston Rockets. A crucial showdown between the third and fourth-ranked NBA Western Conference teams ended with the Lakers pulling away in the final minute of the fourth quarter to claim an impressive win on the road. The victory gives the Lakers (43-25) a valuable cushion over the Rockets (41-26) as they jostle for post-season positions in the West. Doncic was once again instrumental in dragging the Lakers over the line while a hard-nosed defensive effort
‘THAT’S US’: Before each WBC game, Venezuelan players gather around a drum in the dugout for the tambor, coastal Afro-Venezuelan music and dance Venezuelan players on Monday night danced in the dugout before the first pitch, then pranced past Italy and into their nation’s first World Baseball Classic (WBC) final. Ronald Acuna Jr, Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez hit run-scoring, two-out singles in a rapid seventh-inning rally that sparked a 4-2 victory and vaulted Venezuela into a title matchup against the US. Players celebrated in the clubhouse before quickly turning focus to the final. “A lot of dancing,” Garcia said. “We have to show the world who Venezuela is.” Before each WBC game, Venezuelan players gather around a drum in the dugout for
Japan’s national baseball team manager Hirokazu Ibata has said he would step down following Japan’s 8-5 loss to Venezuela in Miami in the quarter-finals of the World Baseball Classic. The newspaper Sports Hochi reported Ibata saying it was his “intention to resign.” Japan are the defending champions and had won the event three times. It marked Japan’s first failure to reach the WBC semi-finals despite a team stacked with MLB talent including Shohei Ohtani. “The result is everything,” Sports Hochi reported Ibata as saying. “Although we lost this time, I hope Japan will grow stronger and win next time.” Japan
Retired NBA big man LaMarcus Aldridge, a seven-time All-Star, is to visit Taiwan early next month for the first time to promote an NBA event, the league’s Taiwan Web site said on Monday. During his visit, Aldridge would meet fans on April 4 and 5 at Banciao Stadium in New Taipei City during the Rising Stars Invitational Taiwan Regional Qualifiers, NBA Taiwan wrote on Facebook. Tickets became available on FamiTicket on Monday at noon and can be reserved until 11:59pm on March 31, with a maximum purchase of two tickets per person, it said. The tickets are divided into three
RSS