It was a tale of the top seeds at the rain-hit Qatar Ladies Open on Thursday, as Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis advanced to the semi-finals in the doubles, while Angelique Kerber crashed out to a Russian teenager in the second round of the singles in Doha.
Chan and Hingis faced a tougher test than their first-round match in their quarter-final against Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain, but they came through with flying colors, posting a 6-3, 6-3 victory in 67 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Swiss duo saved six of eight break points and converted five of 13, winning 59 of the 105 points contested to advance to a semi-final against either third seeds Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic and Peng Shuai of China or Olga Savchuk of Ukraine and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who were scheduled to play their rain-delayed quarter-final yesterday.
That should give the top seeds an advantage in the semi-finals, with their opponents having to play two matches yesterday in their bid to make today’s final.
In the singles, world No. 2 Kerber finally got to play her first match at the rain-affected tournament, then promptly crashed out.
On another wet day in the desert, Kerber lost 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 to Daria Kasatkina.
The German had received a first-round bye.
“Of course, it’s always tough to play the first matches after a longer break, but I was not feeling the best today. I’m trying to find my rhythm, but she plays good,” the former world No. 1 said. “I think it was, for sure, not my day. I was not feeling the best today.”
She told German-speaking reporters that she had been suffering from a cold, but did not want to make “a drama out of this.”
It was the second time this year that Kerber has lost to the 19-year-old Russian, after a straight-sets defeat at the Apia Sydney International last month.
The defeat capped a miserable start to the year for the German, who lost in the fourth round in Melbourne as she sought to defend her Australian Open title.
To make things worse, eventual winner Serena Williams then reclaimed Kerber’s world No. 1 ranking.
The defeat also denied Doha a repeat of last year’s Olympics final, as Kasatkina instead won through to play gold medalist Monica Puig in the quarter-finals. That match also began on Thursday.
It was tied at 1-1 — the Russian took the first set 6-4, while Puig hit back to take the second 7-5 — with the Puerto Rican 2-1 up in the decider before the inevitable rain struck again and play was halted for the day.
Also suspended because of the weather was Caroline Wozniacki’s quarter-final against qualifier Lauren Davis of the US. The pair managed only one game before being stopped for the day.
Earlier, the Dane had beaten close friend Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 6-3.
“We always have great matches,” Wozniacki said. “It was a tough match, but I was pleased.”
Only one player, Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova, has so far won through to the semi-finals.
She beat Australia’s Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-4 and was due to play the winner of the match between the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova and China’s Zhang Shuai.
Second seed Pliskova had earlier beaten France’s Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-4.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
RSS