Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chen yesterday crashed out of the semi-finals of the doubles at the Hong Kong Open, while sixth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova set up a final against seventh seed Daria Gavrilova in the singles.
Chan and Monique Adamczak of Australia fell to a comprehensive 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Chinese duo Lu Jiajing and Wang Qiang in 55 minutes at the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium.
Lu and Wang did not face a single break point and converted five of 13, winning 50 of the 72 points contested to advance to today’s final against Taiwanese top seeds and reigning champions Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan.
Photo: EPA
“[It was] very tough as a lot of wind and it was not easy to serve,” Pavlyuchenkova said of her match. “But I’m really happy with the way I handled the pressure and the weather.”
Sixth-seeded Pavlyuchenkova is chasing her third WTA singles title this year.
The 23-year-old Gavrilova beat Jennifer Brady of the US 6-0, 7-5 with few errors and whizzing forehand winners down the line.
Photo: EPA
Brady’s nerves settled in the second set where she finally found some rhythm. Holding her serve for the first time in the match, Brady hit the ball with more pace and broke back to level at 4-4 in the decider.
Seventh-seeded Gavrilova played a superb drop shot to win the match.
“I’m not going to just go out and enjoy [the final],” Gavrilova said. “I’m going to go out there and fight and try and win my second title.”
Top-seeded Elina Svitolina withdrew from the tournament after hurting her right leg in the China Open last week.
SHANGHAI MASTERS
AFP, SHANGHAI
Rafael Nadal survived a roller-coaster encounter with fourth seed Marin Cilic to power into today’s
Shanghai Masters men’s single final and a possible showdown with old rival Roger Federer.
The Spanish world No. 1, who has never won the tournament but is on a terrific run of form, finally saw off the Croatian after saving three set points in the opener on the way to a tense 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) victory.
No. 2 Federer plays Juan Martin del Potro in the other semi-final later Saturday after the Argentine said he was fit despite hurting his wrist in a fall in the quarter-finals.
Del Potro fell and hurt his wrist in his quarter-final victory, organizers said.
The 29-year-old Argentine, who has had several operations on his wrists in recent years, practiced ahead of last night’s Federer showdown and tournament organizers said he had informed them he was fit to play.
However, it remains to be seen whether he will be 100 percent free of the pain in his left wrist.
The 2009 US Open champion on Friday clambered off the court floor to knock out Serbia’s Viktor Troicki 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in their quarter-final.
Del Potro, whose previous wrist injuries have threatened his career, took a nasty tumble at 2-2 in the deciding set and most of the weight of his body ended up on his outstretched left hand, bending it painfully backward.
He required several minutes of medical attention at the back of the court.
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