Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan yesterday advanced to the doubles final at the Wuhan Open, while unseeded Ashleigh Barty upset eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko to reach the singles final.
Top seeds Chan and Martina Hingis won a hard-fought semi-final against third seeds Sania Mirza of India and Peng Shuai of China 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in 1 hour, 48 minutes on Center Court at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center in Wuhan, China.
The Taiwanese-Swiss duo saved seven of 12 break points and converted six of 13, winning 73 of the 138 points contested to advance to today’s final against Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Yang Zhaoxuan of China after they were handed a walkover when Australian fourth seeds Barty and Casey Dellacqua pulled out of the second semi-final, with Barty citing fatigue.
Photo: AFP
Aoyama and Yang progressed through the quarter-finals on Thursday when Russian second seeds Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova retired in the first set.
Chan and Hingis, who won the US Open title earlier this month, are looking to claim their eighth title of the season.
Regardless of the result of the final, Hingis is set to replace Lucie Safarova at the top of the WTA Tour doubles rankings on Monday.
Photo: AFP
In the singles, Barty took 1 hour, 14 minutes to defeat Latvian Ostapenko 6-3, 6-0.
World No. 37 Barty saved one of the two break points she faced and converted five of 10, winning 61 of the 98 points contested, as French Open champion and world No. 10 Ostapenko saw her winning streak in Asia come to an end after winning her second career title in Seoul on Sunday.
In the final, Barty faces French world No. 20 Caroline Garcia, who defeated Greek qualifier Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour, 19 minutes.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
RSS