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.
STILL IN THE HUNT: Rasmus Hojlund took his goal tally for SSC Napoli to nine as the champions cruised to a win at US Cremonese and stayed two points behind the leaders Inter on Sunday stayed at the Serie A summit after beating Atalanta BC 1-0 to maintain their slender lead over local rivals AC Milan. Lautaro Martinez netted the only goal of the game in Bergamo for Inter, who lead Milan, 3-0 winners against Hellas Verona thanks to Christoper Nkunku’s first Serie A goals, by a single point at the top of the division. The Argentina striker has scored in four consecutive league matches to end what has been a tricky year in positive style. “I ended last season in a lot of pain... I kept going during the Club World Cup and international
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue
Algeria on Sunday became the third country after Egypt and Nigeria to qualify for the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations by edging Burkina Faso 1-0 in Rabat through a Riyad Mahrez penalty. Defending champions Ivory Coast failed to join the trio after drawing 1-1 with Cameroon in a lively showdown in Marrakesh. Elsewhere, Mozambique ended a 39-match wait for a first victory by beating Gabon 3-2, while Sudan got back into contention for a last-16 slot by beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Casablanca. Captain Mahrez converted from the penalty spot midway through the first half and Algeria then held on
RSS