Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis of Switzerland yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Mutua Madrid Open, while defending men’s singles champion Novak Djokovic survived a scare on Wednesday.
Third seeds Chan and Hingis rallied from a set down to defeat Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 in 1 hour, 23 minutes in their quarter-final at La Caja Magica in the Spanish capital.
The Taiwanese-Swiss duo saved three of eight break points and converted five of 14, winning 68 of the 132 points to improve their career record against Groenefeld and Peschke to 2-0 after a round-of-16 victory in Dubai in February.
Photo: AP
On Wednesday, second seed Djokovic recovered from a 3-0 deficit in the third set to defeat Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 and reach the third round of the men’s singles.
Djokovic rallied in the final set by breaking Almagro to go up 6-5 and served out to earn his 15th win of the season.
The victory left Djokovic on track to play a semi-final against four-time Madrid Open champion and home-crowd favorite Rafael Nadal, who struggled in a 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-4 win over Fabio Fognini of Italy.
“I haven’t played bad, I played really bad,” Nadal said. “It was uncomfortable.”
It was an important opening win for Djokovic as he tries to turn his season around and regain his form going into the French Open.
“When you’re not winning too many matches, you have to build the confidence level,” Djokovic said. “So to win the matches like this definitely helps confidence.”
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
RSS