The Chan sisters’ bid to cement a spot at the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore got off to the worst possible start in Tokyo yesterday when they crashed out of the first round of the doubles at the Pan Pacific Open.
Top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan, sixth in the WTA Tour’s Road to Singapore rankings, fell to a 1-6, 6-4, 10-5 comeback victory by Chinese duo Liang Chen and Yang Zhaoxuan in 69 minutes.
The Taiwanese duo saved two of five break points and converted five of nine, winning 55 of the 108 points contested, but it was not the result the sisters were looking for a day after Hao-ching celebrated her 23rd birthday.
Photo: AP
The Chans are 870 points ahead of ninth-ranked Chinese duo Xu Yifan and Zheng Saisai in the rankings, with the top eight pairings qualifying for the season-ending championships from Oct. 23 to Oct. 30.
The Taiwanese duo were not the only seeds to come unstuck in the Japanese capital yesterday, with fourth-seeded Slovenian duo Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik falling to a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain.
Second seeds Sania Mirza of India and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic also suffered a scare, losing the first set on the way to a tight 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 10-8 victory over Japanese duo Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara.
In the singles, Ukrainian world No. 20 Elina Svitolina ousted Coco Vandeweghe of the US 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 34 minutes to improve her record over the American to 3-0.
Also advancing were sixth seed Dominika Cibulkova, seventh seed Petra Kvitova, eight seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Caroline Wozniacki, Anastasija Sevastova, qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Strycova and qualifier Magda Linette.
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CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
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