Taiwanese No. 1 Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the second round of the singles at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, while fellow countrywoman Chang Kai-chen triumphed in the first round of the doubles.
Seventh seed Hsieh defeated Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour, 23 minutes at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.
The Taiwanese saved one of four break points and converted five of 10, winning 69 of the 129 points contested in the Malaysian capital to set up a second-round clash with another Slovakian, Kristina Kucova.
Kucova advanced by edging Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in 1 hour, 42 minutes.
Also advancing to the second round yesterday was German third seed Sabine Lisicki, who ousted Magda Linette of Poland 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in 1 hour, 40 minutes.
The German faces Barbora Krejcikova in the second round after the Czech qualifier defeated China’s Wang Yafan 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in 1 hour, 52 minutes.
It was not a good day for fifth seed Nao Hibino of Japan as she fell to a shock 6-4, 6-2 loss to Duan Ying-ying of China in just 67 minutes.
Duan next faces fellow Chinese Wang Qiang, who cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum in just 64 minutes.
Kurumi Nara of Japan survived the longest of the opening day’s singles matches, defeating Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (12/10) in 3 hours, 19 minutes.
In the first round of the doubles, Chang and Oksana Kalashnikova defeated Valentyna Ivakhnenko of Russia and Lidziya Marozava of Belarus 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in 1 hour, 28 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Georgian duo saved eight of 14 break points and converted seven of 12, winning exactly half of the 146 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against either top-seeded Chinese duo Liang Chen and Wang Yafan or Linette and Zhang Kai-lin of China.
Also advancing yesterday were fourth-seeded Russian pairing Marina Melnikova and Alexandra Panova, who cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand and Kotomi Takahata of Japan.
They next face Katarzyna Piter of Poland and Maryna Zanevska of Ukraine after they claimed a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7 (1/7), 11-9 win over Naomi Broady of Britain and Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey.
In related news, Taiwanese sisters Chan Yung-jan and Chan Hao-ching earned career-high doubles rankings of fifth and sixth in the world respectively yesterday following their victory at the Qatar Open on Saturday.
Chan Yung-jan (5,360 points) and Chan Hao-ching (5,335 points) both climbed four places in yesterday’s rankings and now have just Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza (12,925 points), Yaroslava Shvedova (5,595 points) and Casey Dellacqua (5,630 points) above them on the list.
In the singles rankings, Hsieh fell four places to 65th in the world, while Chang dropped two spots to No. 153.
Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu on Friday went 0-for-3 in his MLB debut for the Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, becoming the 19th Taiwan-born player to reach the big leagues. The Tigers ultimately lost 1-0 in 10 innings, ending their six-game winning streak. The 23-year-old started at third base and batted eighth for Detroit. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo ahead of the four-game series against the Red Sox at the latter’s home stadium, replacing injured utility player Zach McKinstry. “Being right-handed, and given our schedule, I think six of the next 12 games are going to
Matheus Cunha on Saturday fired Manchester United toward the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Chelsea, while Tottenham Hotspur remain in the relegation zone after twice blowing the lead to draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Chelsea failed to take advantage of a United defense ravaged by injury and suspension as a fourth straight league defeat for the Blues left their Champions League hopes in ruins. United have missed out on the riches of Europe’s elite competition for the past two seasons, but are closing in on a return thanks to an upturn in fortunes under interim manager
Denmark’s double Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, long a rival of Taiwan’s former world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, yesterday announced his retirement at age 32, saying back problems meant he could no longer “compete and train at the highest level.” Axelsen, who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris in 2024, had back surgery in April last year and said he had not overcome his physical issues. “Accepting this situation has been incredibly difficult,” he said in a statement. “But I have now reached a point where my body won’t allow me to continue.” Axelsen retires as one
Italian soccer is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation’s failure for the third successive time to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, and compounded a leadership and structural crisis. The exits suffered by Bologna and ACF Fiorentina on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season. Italy’s last remaining UEFA Champions League contenders, Atalanta BC, went out in the round of 16 last month. It is the first time since the 1986-1987 campaign that Italian clubs
RSS