Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan cruised through two matches to advance to the semi-finals of the Aegon International doubles on Thursday, but younger sister Chan Hao-ching crashed out in the opening round in Eastbourne, England.
Second seeds Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis took just 48 minutes to see off US duo Lauren Davis and Alison Riske 6-1, 6-2 in the first round, before returning to the grass courts to rout Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-0 in 49 minutes in the quarter-finals.
In their opener, the Taiwanese-Swiss duo saved two of three break points and converted five of five, while in the quarter-final they saved all four break points they faced and converted five of seven to set up a semi-final against Nicole Melichar of the US and Anna Smith of Britain, who they defeated in the Mallorca Open semi-finals last week on their way to claiming the title.
Photo: screen grab from Facebook
Chan Hao-ching and Monica Niculescu were ousted 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 by third seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic in 1 hour, 16 minutes.
In the singles, Britain’s Johanna Konta enjoyed an extraordinary day, beating French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, then overcoming a bad fall to defeat world No. 1 Angelique Kerber to reach the semi-finals.
With Kerber losing, Simona Halep could have taken over the German’s top spot in the world rankings if she had gone on to reach the final of the event, but the Romanian missed out by losing to Caroline Wozniacki in three sets.
Konta, Britain’s big hope in the women’s singles at Wimbledon next week, proved the main attraction as she beat two Grand Slam winners in the space of a few hours.
Two days of rain delays on the south coast of England had left a punishing two-match schedule for most of the players, but Konta rose brilliantly to the challenge, first overcoming Ostapenko 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, before later eclipsing Kerber 6-3, 6-4.
However, Konta’s victory over top seed Kerber was accompanied by high drama when, while holding match point, she slipped and fell heavily on to her back while also hitting her head on the ground.
Lying on the turf and initially sobbing from the shock and the pain, the British No. 1 needed treatment as the match was halted for 10 minutes amid fears she might not be fit to continue.
Kerber was so concerned that she came around the net to help her distraught opponent, yet, remarkably, the groggy Konta rejoined the fray and won the next two points to set up a semi-final against Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 6-4 in their quarter-final.
“I slipped and hit my head, and it’s a bit sore,” Australian-born Konta, whose family moved to Eastbourne when she was a teenager, told the crowd. “It’s been a busy afternoon, we’ve played a lot of tennis and I’m looking forward to recovering the best I can.”
Wozniacki fought back from a set down against Halep to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 and reach the last four, where the Dane was to meet another Briton, Heather Watson, who beat Czech Barbora Strycova 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in the other quarter-final.
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