Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the quarter-finals of the singles at the Prague Open on Wednesday, but crashed out in the quarter-finals of the doubles later in the day along with fellow Taiwanese Chuang Chia-jung and Chan Chin-wei.
In the second round of the singles, Taiwanese No. 1 Hsieh rallied after to losing the second set to oust 18-year-old Croatian Ana Konjuh 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in 1 hour, 37 minutes.
The Kaohsiung-born world No. 78 saved 10 of 13 break points and converted four of eight, winning 82 of the 159 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against Lucie Safarova, who advanced when fellow Czech Lucie Hradecka retired with a neck injury with the second seed leading 6-4, 2-0.
“Obviously, it’s not the best feeling after the match to win like that, but I think I played really well in the first set, served really well — there was a key moment at 5-4 when I was down 40-0 and aced her three times,” world No. 16 Safarova told the WTA Web site. “Overall, I’m happy with my game and ready for the next one.”
Safarova won her only previous meeting with the Taiwanese No. 1 6-2, 6-3 in the second round at Wimbledon last year.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals on a bitterly cold Wednesday afternoon was top-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who rallied from a set down to oust Madison Brengle of the US 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in 2 hours, 8 minutes.
“Yesterday was really hard and today as well,” Kuznetsova said. “It looks like it’s warmer, but it’s not — thankfully it wasn’t snowing. Today I put the heat cream on and almost all the clothes I have with me.”
The cold conditions affected the Russian world No. 13 and it was not until the latter stages that she began to impress.
“It’s difficult, especially on the clay, because I like when the ball bounces high and here it doesn’t bounce at all,” she said. “It was a little bit ugly, but sometimes you need to win ugly matches, especially for me. In the first set I didn’t really play my game. I was struggling to move and when I don’t move my game is a little bit off.”
Kuznetsova was next due to face Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, who defeated Czech lucky loser Barbora Krejcikova 6-4, 6-4.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals were Czech third seed Karolina Pilskova, Australian fourth seed Samantha Stosur, Czech fifth seed Barbora Strycova and Camila Giorgi of Italy.
In the quarter-finals of the doubles, Hsieh and Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium fell to a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to top-seeded US duo Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears in 68 minutes; third seeds Chuang and Darija Durak of Croatia were ousted 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 by Maria Irigoyen of Argentina and Paula Kania of Poland in 1 hour, 26 minutes; and second seeds Margarita Gasparyan of Russia and Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic rallied from a set down to defeat Chan and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland 4-6, 6-4, 10-7 in 1 hour, 27 minutes..
GRAND PRIX SAR
AP, RABAT
Top seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland overcame five breaks of serve to beat Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix SAR on Wednesday.
World No. 15 Bacsinszky was next due to play Johanna Larsson of Sweden, who beat Teliana Pereira of Brazil 6-4, 6-4.
Qualifier Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia, the world No. 123, upset second seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-2, 6-2, while another qualifier — Marina Erakovic of New Zealand — led 6-4 against seventh seed Lesia Tsurenko when the Ukrainian retired.
Fifth seed Timea Babos of Hungary beat Britain’s Laura Robson 6-1, 6-2 and eighth seed Yulia Putintseva joined her in the last eight with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Germany’s Tatjana Maria.
Kiki Bertens, the 2012 champion, and Pauline Parmentier also progressed to the quarter-finals.
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SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
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