Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Rohan Bopanna of India rallied from a set down to advance to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles at the Australian Open yesterday, but it was a day that saw Hsieh Su-wei crash out of both the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles at Melbourne Park.
Third seeds Chan and Bopanna had to fight back from a set down against Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic and Lucasz Kubot of Poland to complete a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 victory in 70 minutes on Show Court 3.
The Taiwanese-Indian duo saved two of four break points and converted two of five, winning 65 of the 123 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Treat Huey of the Philippines, who edged Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
Photo: EPA
Next up for Taiwan’s Chan is a women’s doubles quarter-final with her younger sister, Chan Hao-ching, at 8am Taiwan time today.
The second-seeded sisters are due to take on seventh-seeded Czech pairing Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka on Show Court 3, which has become a home-away-from-home for Taiwanese players at Melbourne Park over the past few days.
It was not such a good day for Taiwan’s Hsieh, who crashed out of both the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles.
Hsieh and Oksana Kalashnikova of Georgia crashed to a 6-2, 6-4 defeat to 15th-seeded Chinese duo Xu Yi-fan and Zheng Saisai in the third round of the women’s doubles at Hisense Arena yesterday morning.
Hsieh returned on Show Court 3 in the mixed doubles later yesterday alongside Alexander Peya, but she could not make up for her earlier disappointment as the Taiwanese-Austrian duo fell to a 6-2, 6-3 defeat to fifth seeds Elena Vesnina of Russia and Bruno Soares of Brazil in exactly an hour.
Two nights after his father-in-law was rushed to the hospital, four-time finalist Andy Murray put personal distractions aside long enough to beat Bernard Tomic and advance to the men’s singles quarter-finals.
An agitated Murray yelled and berated himself, and had trouble at times before winning 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in a scrappy game against the last Australian in the draw.
Next for Murray is to be No. 8 David Ferrer, a two-time semi-finalist, who held off No. 10 John Isner 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Milos Raonic persevered with his serve-and-volley game plan and withstood a strong comeback from 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka, advancing to the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3. French Open champion Wawrinka was the only man to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic in a Grand Slam match last year — the final at Roland Garros — and the last man to beat him at Melbourne Park after 2010.
Raonic lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open quarter-finals last year. This year, he is to face No. 23 Gael Monfils, who reached the last eight in Australia for the first time in 11 trips with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) win over Andrei Kuznetsov.
Before the quarter-finals, Murray said he would try to relax — which might be more difficult than usual considering his wife, Kim, is expecting their first child next month. The two-time major winner said he would be ready to leave the tournament at any moment if needed in Britain.
Kim’s father, Nigel Sears, was working in Australia as a coach for Ana Ivanovic when he fell ill and needed medical treatment in the stands at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and stayed overnight, but has been released.
Murray and Ivanovic, who lost to Madison Keys, were playing at the same time, Murray on nearby Margaret Court Arena.
Keys was eliminated yesterday, after Zhang Shuai of China defeated her 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Zhang is to play Johanna Konta, who had a 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 win over Ekaterina Makarova, who made it to the semi-finals last year, and became the first British woman since Jo Durie in 1983 to advance to the quarter-finals in Australia.
In earlier matches, two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Barbora Strycova 6-2, 6-4. A growing favorite for the title in a strong comeback from two injury-interrupted seasons, Azarenka next faces No. 7 Angelique Kerber, who beat fellow German Annika Beck 6-4, 6-0.
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
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
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