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.
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
Bjorn Werner on Saturday signed everything thrust in front of him by NFL fans who packed a Berlin plaza. His old Indianapolis Colts jersey — it is a best-seller in Germany — footballs, scarves, miniature helmets. Even a cleat. Werner’s NFL career ended after three seasons because of injuries, but he has become a star in his home country as a TV commentator and media personality. He cohosts a popular podcast, has a big social media presence and is credited with helping popularize the sport in Germany. As the former first-round draft pick waded through throngs of fans, he looked around and took
RSS