Chang Kai-chen and Chuang Chia-jung advanced to the quarter-finals of the doubles at the OEC Taipei WTA Challenger at the Taipei Arena yesterday, while fellow Taiwanese Hsu Ching-wen and Lee Ya-hsuan also won their first-round match at the WTA 125k tournament.
Chang and Chuang ousted fourth seeds Jessica Moore of Australia and Varatchaya Wongteanchai of Thailand 6-0, 7-5 in exactly 1 hour.
The Taiwanese pairing saved four of five break points and converted five of 12 to set up a quarter-final against Olga Govortsova of Belarus and Evgeniya Rodina of Russia.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Hsu and Lee defeated fellow Taiwanese Lee Pei-chi and Nicha Lertpitaksinchai of Thailand 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour, 17 minutes.
The Taiwanese pairing converted five of 12 break points, winning 68 of the 120 points contested to advance to a clash with Russian duo Natela Dzalamidze and Veronika Kudermetova.
In the other first-round doubles match, third seeds Naomi Broady of Britain and Ipek Soylu of Turkey rallied to defeat Cho I-hsuan of Taiwan and Tatjana Maria of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 10-8.
In the second round of the singles, Govortsova rallied from a set down to oust Julia Boserup of the US 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 in 2 hours, 27 minutes.
The world No. 198 fired down five aces and converted five of 10 break points to advance to a quarter-final against Russian wild-card Vitalia Diatchenko, who defeated Miyu Kato of Japan 7-5, 6-4 in 1 hour, 21 minutes.
In a battle between two qualifiers, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty came out on top, ousting Junri Namigata of Japan 6-2, 6-3 in just 54 minutes.
The world No. 325 saved one of three break points and converted six of nine, winning 59 of the 106 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against either sixth seed Rodina or Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic.
In the remaining first-round matches, yet more seeded players headed for the exit.
Maria ousted fourth seed Irina Khromacheva of Russia 7-5, 6-1 in 1 hour 23 minutes and China’s Zhang Kai-lin rallied from a second-set setback to defeat seventh seed Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Luksika Kumkhum advanced when ninth seed Wang Yafan of China retired after 48 minutes with the Thai leading 6-1, 3-2 and Kudermetova defeated Thai qualifier Wongteanchai 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 16 minutes.
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