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.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but