Chen Ti and Jason Jung yesterday kept alive Taiwan’s bid to stave off relegation from Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I with a straight-sets victory in the doubles rubber at the Yang Gu Tennis Park in South Korea.
Chen and Jung defeated the hosts’ Lee Jea-moon and Lim Yong-kyu 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in a minute over two hours to grab a point for the visitors, who will need to win both singles rubbers today to survive the drop.
The Taiwanese duo saved nine of 11 break points and converted five of nine, firing down five aces and winning 100 of the 186 points contested to keep their team’s hopes alive.
Photo: AFP
With South Korea holding a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five contest, Jung will need to upset world No. 44 Chung Hye-on in the first reverse singles rubber today, before Wu Tung-lin is due to take on Kwon Soon-woo.
Pakistan remain favorites to replace the losers in Asia/Oceania Group I, despite losing the doubles rubber to Thailand in the Group II promotion playoff yesterday.
Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana rallied from a set down to defeat Muhammad Abid and Shahzad Khan 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad to grab a point for the visitors, who trailed 2-1 heading into today’s reverse singles.
Elsewhere, Nick Kyrgios clinched a five-set thriller to pull Australia level with Belgium in their World Group semi-finals on Friday, just hours after admitting he was not taking tennis seriously enough.
The combustible Kyrgios came back from 2-1 down to defeat 33-year-old Steve Darcis 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-2 in 3 hours, 36 minutes on the clay courts of Brussels’ Palais 12 Arena.
Kyrgios fired 34 aces and 41 winners to take his Davis Cup singles record to seven wins in eight as Australia finished the day at 1-1 after world No. 12 David Goffin had beaten 185-ranked John Millman 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.
Kyrgios, defeated in the first round of the US Open by compatriot Millman earlier this month, went into the match with a hip injury as well as a lack of motivation.
Writing on www.playersvoice.com, the 22-year-old said: “I am not the professional tennis needs me to be.”
“I’m not making the improvements I should because I don’t want it enough, I’m not taking it seriously enough,” he said. “There is a constant tug-of-war between the competitor within me wanting to win, win, win and the human in me wanting to live a normal life with my family away from the public glare.”
However, he was overjoyed by his performance in Brussels as Australia seek a place in the Davis Cup final for the first time since they previously won the title in 2003.
Captain “Lleyton Hewitt and I have put so much dedication into this, the Davis Cup has been my No.1 priority this year. I think we must be favorites going into the doubles’ tomorrow,” Kyrgios told daviscup.com.
In Lille, France, Dusan Lajovic made a mockery of the absence of Novak Djokovic to give Serbia a shock lead over France in their semi-final.
World No. 80 Lajovic edged Lucas Pouille, ranked 58 places higher, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/5) in the first rubber of the tie.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to become the first man in history to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller at the Madrid Open on Sunday. The world leader extended his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that began early March in Indian Wells, and he has captured 24 consecutive victories at the Masters 1000 level, dating back to the Paris Masters last October. Searching for a maiden title at this level on clay, Sinner advanced to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica with a 77-minute performance against
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
RSS