Chan Yung-jan on Friday kept her bid for a fifth title of the season on track at the Mallorca Open as the Taiwanese and Martina Hingis took just 59 minutes to advance to the final of the doubles.
The Taiwanese-Swiss top seeds defeated Nicole Melichar of the US and Anna Smith of Britain 6-3, 6-3 on the grass courts on the Spanish island as they eyed their fourth title of the season and Chan’s fifth, after she claimed the Taiwan Open title with younger sister Chan Hao-ching in Taipei in February.
The tops seeds saved all three break points they faced and converted three of 10 to advance to a final against either Jelena Jankovic and Anastasija Sevastova or Julia Goerges and Xenia Knoll, who were to play after press time last night.
Photo: EPA
The Taiwanese-Swiss duo will be looking to claim their fourth title of the season today after lifting the trophies in Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome earlier this season.
In the singles, second seed Anastasija Sevastova on Friday dispatched Croatian Ana Konjuh to reach the semi-finals as she bids to go one better than last year.
The tricky Latvian beat the seventh seed 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7/5) to set up a clash with Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, who beat her in last year’s final.
Third seed Garcia had a busy day, finishing off her second- round match against Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova before returning later to beat Italy’s Roberta Vinci.
Vinci had set points in the second set, but Garcia scraped through a tense second-set tiebreak for a 6-2, 7-6 (10/8) win.
In the other half, Julia Goerges beat fellow German Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 6-4, while Catherine Bellis of the US beat Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2.
In England, Czech Petra Kvitova continued her impressive comeback by moving into the Aegon Classic semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) win over France’s Kristina Mladenovic on Friday.
QUEEN’S
AP, LONDON
Gilles Muller and Feliciano Lopez continued to defy age and their unseeded status as they progressed to the semi-finals of the Queen’s Club Championship on Friday.
Lopez, 35, saved a match point on his serve en route to ousting seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych in three sets, while Muller, 34, overcame Sam Querrey in straight sets.
“I’m a little bit old. I’m going to be 36, but I’m enjoying the moment a lot and I think I’m playing some of my best tennis,” Lopez said. “It’s been a great run this week, especially today saving a match point against a great player like Tomas.”
After exchanging tiebreak wins, Lopez and Berdych played out a high-quality decider.
The Spaniard saved a match point at 4-5 before turning the tables on Berdych to prevail 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (7/1), 7-5.
Dimitrov came through a topsy-turvy encounter with Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
“It was a very tricky match. It’s never easy to play a guy you’ve never played before,” Dimitrov said. “He definitely surprised me.”
Despite his unseeded status, Muller is the tournament’s form player.
He defeated Querrey 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to stretch his winning run to seven matches after claiming a grass-court title in the Netherlands last week.
“In the important moments I’m able to bring out some great shots,” the Luxembourg player said. “It’s a great feeling when you get that many matches in a row. It gives me a big boost and a lot of confidence.”
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