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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later