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.
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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