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.”
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
Fred Kerley is competing unaugmented against drug-fuelled athletes at this weekend’s Enhanced Games and still hopes to race in the 2028 Olympics, the suspended former 100m world champion said on Friday. Arguably the biggest name at the divisive event in Las Vegas, where doping is permitted, the US sprinter said he had chosen not to take any of the banned substances including testosterone and steroids that his competitors have been using. “I don’t need it. God gave me fast feet for a reason. And I’m here to showcase my talent,” Kerley said. Kerley last September became the first US competitor and first track
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
RSS