Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis survived a huge scare to keep their bid for back-to-back doubles titles on track at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday, while top seed Angelique Kerber was not so fortunate, losing her opening match at the Foro Italico to Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit.
Second seeds Chan and Hingis rallied from a set down against Nao Hibino of Japan and Alicja Rosolska of Poland to edge a tight second-round contest 4-6, 7-5, 11-9 in 1 hour, 38 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Swiss duo saved three of six break points and converted three of six, winning 75 of the 144 points contested to advance to the quarter-finals in Rome.
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The second seeds are looking for a third title as a pairing and the second in a week after they triumphed at the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday.
In the women’s singles, world No. 1 Kerber fell to a shock 6-4, 6-0 loss to Kontaveit.
Kerber joined Andy Murray, the men’s world No. 1, on the sidelines after Murray’s loss to Fabio Fognini on Tuesday.
“Everybody knows I’m not a clay-court specialist,” Kerber said. “I was not playing good last year as well. I had a great year, but I mean, these few weeks I was not playing good and this year it’s the same.”
In the men’s singles, Rafael Nadal hardly had to get his socks dirty extending his winning streak to 16 matches.
Back to being the best player on the ATP Tour over the past month, Nadal advanced from his opening match when Nicolas Almagro retired in the first set with an apparent injury.
Nadal has won consecutive clay-court tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.
Also on Wednesday, Olympic silver medalist Juan Martin del Potro defeated Britain’s Kyle Edmund 7-5, 6-4; fifth seed Milos Raonic defeated German veteran Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3; and 16th seed Alexander Zverev beat Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4 and was due to face Italian Fabio Fognini.
“The stadium will be very loud for him. I’m very sure about that,” Zverev said of Fognini. “It’s going to be a fun day, a fun atmosphere and great match.”
Nadal was to face 13th seed Jack Sock, who beat Jiri Vesely 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/1) after more than two-and-a-half hours.
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
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
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