The Chan sisters survived a Taiwanese rout in the first round of the women’s doubles at Wimbledon on Thursday, while Lu Yen-hsun was beaten in the second round of the men’s singles by world No. 2 Andy Murray.
Third seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan were the only successful Taiwanese to take to the grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Thursday, advancing to the second round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Ashleigh Barty of Australia and Laura Robson of Britain.
The sisters saved five of seven break points and converted five of eight, winning 67 of the 116 points contested, despite serving up six double faults.
Photo: AFP
“Wasn’t an easy first round, but was a good match to start the Wimbledon Championship, see you all at 2nd round,” elder sister Chan Yung-jan wrote on Facebook.
It was not such good news for the rest of the Taiwanese doubles players, with Hsieh Su-wei, Chuang Chia-jung and Chan Chin-wei all crashing out at the first hurdle in the third Grand Slam of the year.
Hsieh and Nicole Melichar of the US fell to a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Chinese duo Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai in 1 hour, 19 minutes. Hsieh and Peng won the doubles title at Wimbledon in 2013 as a partnership.
Photo: EPA
Chuang and Mona Barthel of Germany were ousted 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour, 12 minutes by Japanese duo Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato, while Chan Chin-wei and Han Xinyun of China were routed 6-1, 6-4 in just 58 minutes by 10th-seeded US pairing Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears.
In the singles, Murray maintained his challenge for a second Wimbledon title, crushing Lu 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.
He hit 31 winners and served six aces in a Centre Court masterclass lasting just over 90 minutes and faces Australian world No. 67 John Millman for a place in the last 16.
“There were a lot of close games in the first set, but once I managed to hang on there I settled down,” Murray said. “Towards the end of the second I started hitting the ball much cleaner and was more comfortable. There were a few rain drops and you start to see the groundsmen coming to the edge of the court. Thankfully I had a decent lead. I was quite anxious to get off.”
Lu famously defeated Murray at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the world No. 76’s best Grand Slam performance came at Wimbledon when he made the quarter-finals six year ago.
The 32-year-old was on an impressive 11-match winning streak on grass that brought him two second-tier Challenger titles in Ilkley and Surbiton.
Although Murray was broken in the first game and trailed 3-1, he quickly regained the upper hand, reeling off five successive games to take the opening set.
The Scot pressed home his advantage in the second set and Lu was looking completely disoriented by the time he surged through the third in commanding style.
In other men’s matches, fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori came from behind to beat Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Centre Court; and No. 9 Marin Cilic needed four sets to beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-4.
Other winners included John Isner, Sam Querrey, Donald Young, Jack Sock and Steve Johnson.
Viktor Troicki let the chair umpire — and the rest of the world — know exactly how angry he was about a key call one point from the end of his 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 loss to Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
“Worst umpire ever in the world! What are you doing? Did you see the ball?” Troicki screamed at chair umpire Damiano Torella after Ramos-Vinolas hit a serve that was initially called out by a linesman behind Troicki.
It was not clear, exactly, who changed that ruling, but Torella announced the score was now 40-30, crediting Ramos-Vinolas with an ace and pushing him to match point, which he claimed.
Troicki began shouting: “No, no, no!” and retrieved a ball to show Torella, saying there was no white chalk on the yellow fuzz, therefore it had not hit a line.
Later, speaking to reporters, Troicki said: “I mean, it was such an obvious call. He [Torella] has no experience, no knowledge about anything.”
“He’s just sitting there, calling the score, not trying to watch the ball,” Troicki said.
The umpire gave Troicki a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct.
In the women’s draw, Garbine Muguruza’s first major tournament as a reigning Grand Slam champion did not last long.
Less than a month after winning the French Open, the second-seeded Spaniard was beaten by a Slovakian qualifier ranked No. 124.
In the biggest upset of the tournament so far, Jana Cepelova beat a listless and mistake-prone Muguruza 6-3, 6-2 on Court 1 in less than an hour to reach the third round.
Earlier, five-time champion Venus Williams picked up a win as the tournament scrambled to get back on schedule after two days of bad weather.
With play starting earlier on the outside courts and the rain holding off, Williams was among nine American players winning first or second-round matches.
Joining Williams among the women’s winners were Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys and Julia Boserup.
The 36-year-old Williams, the oldest player in the women’s draw, defeated 20-year-old Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
In other women’s matches, No. 4 Angelique Kerber advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Varvara Lepchenko; No. 5 Halep beat Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-1; and No. 14 Samantha Stosur lost 6-4, 6-2 to 2013 runner-up Sabine Lisicki.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and