Taiwan’s Chan sisters were on Saturday edged out in a tight doubles final at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, England, in a blow before they begin their Wimbledon campaign this week.
Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan fell to a 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 10-6 defeat to Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova in just short of two hours on the grass courts at Devonshire Park.
The second seeds saved two of seven break points and converted six of 12, winning 85 of the 169 points contested, but it was not enough as the Croatian-Australian duo claimed the title, which the Taiwanese duo were trying to reclaim after their victory back in 2014.
Photo: Reuters
“Unfortunately, we did not win the final at Eastbourne, but we still had a great week here. All the matches we played will help get us ready for Wimbledon — next stop London,” Chan Yung-jan wrote on Facebook.
The Taiwanese, seeded third at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, are to begin their doubles campaign at the third Grand Slam of the year this week against Ashleigh Barty of Australia and Laura Robson of Britain.
In the singles final, Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova warmed up for Wimbledon with her first grass-court title, beating in-form Czech Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-3.
However, the former Australian Open finalist, seeded 12th, had to work hard for the victory early on. She had her serve broken in the first game of the match, setting the pattern for an entertaining tussle as the players traded breaks with abandon.
Cibulkova won three games in a row after her hesitant start before Pliskova hit back to lead 4-3.
The windy conditions were troubling both players on serve and Cibulkova broke again to level at 4-4 and again when her opponent served at 5-6 to take the set.
Life was easier in the second set for Cibulkova. She moved 3-1 ahead with some fierce groundstrokes and clinically finished things off when serving for the match at 5-3 to seal her second title of the year after triumphing indoors in Katowice.
“This tournament is the toughest one before the Grand Slam, because everybody wants to play on grass and this is a big one,” the 27-year-old Slovak said.
“The competition here was really strong. I was able to beat the top players on the grass, it gives me a lot of confidence,” she added.
Cibulkova is to go into Wimbledon seeded 20th and looks capable of having a long run at the All England Club. She is to face Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the first round tomorrow and hopes that might be an omen ahead of the championships.
“I played her once at Wimbledon. I won 7-5 in the third set in a really tough match,” she said.
“In that year I played my quarter-final at Wimbledon. So if I pass that, it can be a good Wimbledon for me,” she added.
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