Chuang Chia-jung advanced to a quarter-final showdown with fellow Taiwanese Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan in the doubles at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, England, on Thursday, while Petra Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon champion, became the latest big name to lose at the rain-hit Edgbaston Priory Club.
Chuang and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova edged Japanese duo Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 in a marathon first-round clash which lasted 1 hour, 33 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Russian duo saved five of seven break points and converted three of 10, winning 70 of the 131 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against top seeds the Chan sisters, who advanced in one of the few matches to survive the rain on Wednesday.
Photo: Reuters
Awaiting the winners in the semi-finals could be fourth-seeded Slovenian duo Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik, who ousted Chinese pairing Peng Shuai and Xu Yifan 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) and were due to face Vania King of the US and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia in the quarter-finals.
In the bottom half of the draw, second seeds Sania Mirza of India and Coco Vandeweghe of the US fell to a shock 6-4, 6-4 loss to British wild-cards Naomi Broady and Heather Watson.
In the singles, moving gingerly on the lush surface, Kvitova subsided to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 second-round loss to Jelena Ostapenko, the world No. 38.
Erasing a 0-2 deficit in the decider visibly encouraged the 19-year-old Latvian, who pressed harder, hit flatter and often played the big points better.
“It was difficult to put the pressure on her,” said Kvitova, who played with her right thigh strapped. “When she dropped serve she became more dangerous and I wasn’t moving very well today.”
“At the beginning [of the grass-court season] it is really difficult for the body. I don’t know that I did anything wrong, but at least I played two matches here and I hope to get more at Eastbourne [next week],” she said.
Neither player was helped by a slightly late start and a 40-minute interruption in the middle of the match, both caused by incessant showers which have blighted the tournament for four days. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the younger player who proved more resilient in dealing with it all.
The most crucial moments came immediately after Kvitova had broken serve to level at a set all and then surged into a 2-0 lead in the decider. She followed it with a poor game, failing to land her first serve frequently enough and then playing an even more disappointingly in the seventh game, delivering a double fault and dropping her serve to love.
She earned a break point in the following game, but was denied by a brilliant forehand from Ostapenko and after that the match ended swiftly.
“I’d beaten her before,” said Ostapenko, referring to a victory on hard courts in Doha in the first week of the year. “So I thought I could do it again.”
The Latvian was due to face Madison Keys, the top-20 American, for a place in the semi-finals.
Kvitova was followed to the exit door by Caroline Wozniacki, the former world No. 1, who was beaten 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 by Yanina Wickmayer, ranked down at No. 49, but a former finalist in Birmingham.
Wozniacki has also been struggling with injuries and had moments when she appeared concerned not to aggravate them in a match that was interrupted three times by the weather.
Two other seeds, Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open champion, and Carla Suarez Navarro were also struggling when rain ended play early for the fourth day in a row.
Kvitova’s and Wozniacki’s exits followed those of Agnieszka Radwanska, the top seed, Belinda Bencic, the youngest top-10 player, and Karolina Pliskova, the eighth-seeded Czech who won the title on the grass in Nottingham last weekend.
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