Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen failed to follow up her shock victory over top seed Roberta Vinci as she crashed out of the second round at the Malaysian Open yesterday.
World No. 153 Chang fell to a 7-5, 6-3 loss to Cagla Buyukakcay in 1 hour, 35 minutes on Court 2 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.
The Turkish world No. 128 saved six of eight break points and converted five of nine, winning 76 of the 142 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard of Canada.
It was Buyukakcay’s first victory over the Taiwanese at her third attempt following defeats in Taipei in 2011 and in qualifying in Pattaya, Thailand, in 2012.
Also making the quarter-finals yesterday was Naomi Broady, who defeated Chinese qualifier Yang Zhaoxuan 6-4, 6-3 in 1 hour, 26 minutes in the opening match on Center Court.
The British world No. 96 saved three of five break points and converted four of six, sending down nine aces and winning 69 of the 122 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against third seed Sabine Lisicki.
Today’s quarter-final will be the German world No. 31’s first meeting with the rising British star, who defeated former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic on her way to reaching the quarter-finals in Auckland in January and who has a 15-4 win-loss record this year.
It was a better day for another Chinese qualifier as Lin Zhu beat world No. 95 Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-2 in 72 minutes.
World No. 190 Zhu saved one of three break points and converted five of seven to advance to a quarter-final against fellow countrywoman Wang Qiang.
Second seed Elina Svitolina beat Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 in 1 hour, 57 minutes.
The Ukrainian world No. 19 saved seven of 10 break points and converted seven of 18 to advance to a quarter-final against Kristina Kucova of Slovakia.
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
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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
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