Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei celebrated New Year’s Day by taking just 68 minutes to advance to the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, while there were also victories for Petra Martic, Kirsten Flipkens and Julia Goerges.
World No. 83 Hsieh, making her first appearance in Auckland since she competed in qualifying 11 years ago, cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Japanese world No. 97 Nao Hibino in just 68 minutes.
Hsieh saved six of seven break points and converted five of 10 to avenge a 6-1, 1-6, 7-5 defeat in their only previous meeting in Tokyo in 2015.
Photo: EPA
Hsieh next faces either sixth seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan or Belgian qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure in the second round.
In yesterday’s other matches, Croatian Martic defeated Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/2), 6-3; Belgian Flipkens ousted Croatian eighth seed Donna Vekic 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-4; and German second seed Goerges outlasted Puerto Rican Monica Puig 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Taiwan’s Chan sisters are due to begin the new season today in the first round of the doubles at the Brisbane International in Australia.
Following the retirement of Martina Hingis, doubles world No. 1 Latisha Chan, who previously played on the WTA Tour under her Chinese name, Chan Yung-jan, is teaming up with Czech Andrea Sestini Hlavackova, who has also changed her name following her marriage in July last year.
The top seeds are due to take on Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia.
Younger sister Chan Hao-ching and Katarina Srebotnik take on Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine and Anastasia Rodionova of Australia, with the Chan sisters headed for a possible early season showdown in the quarter-finals.
In the first round of singles yesterday, Johanna Konta opened her season with a tough 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over US Open finalist Madison Keys.
Fifth seed Konta entered the Australian Open tuneup after losing her final four matches last year, including a first-round exit at the US Open.
After dropping the first set, Konta hit form quickly and had decisive service breaks early in the second and third sets, before clinching it on her second match point, breaking Keys’ serve to finish off in just over two hours.
“To get the chance to play such a high-quality match so early on is only a good thing to me, and to be able to come through in a three-set match as well and to get that much court time, it’s a good thing,” the Briton said.
Keys, playing just her second match since her career-best run at the US Open last year, had 11 aces and hit 37 winners, but made 38 unforced errors.
“It was good tennis today — I haven’t played a match in four months, so it’s like a win for me,” Keys said. “I played really well. She played better. I’m not that upset about it.”
In other matches, third seed Elina Svitolina opened with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Carla Suarez Navarro; 2012 champion Kaia Kanepi beat Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-2; qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich ousted sixth seed Kristina Mladenovic 1-6, 6-3, 7-5; and Heather Watson lost 6-0, 6-3 to Anett Kontaveit.
HOMETOWN ZERO: Fans relished the fall of former Brewer-turned-Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as Milwaukee braces to face the Dodgers, who in 2018 denied them a pennant Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has referred to his team as the “Average Joes,” a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names, but after they beat rivals the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their National League Division Series (NLDS) on Saturday night, Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade. “You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” he said. The Brewers relied on contributions from just about every player to get past the Cubs. Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning, and William Contreras and Brice
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
‘IT’S BASEBALL’: In just the second error to end a post-season series in the MLB, the Phillies reliever fumbled a comebacker and threw to home, despite the signal Eyes red, Orion Kerkering on Thursday received words of support from his Philadelphia Phillies teammates. “Just keep your head up. It’s an honest mistake. Just, it’s baseball,” he remembered hearing. “You’ll be good for a long time to come,” they added. “It’s not my fault, then. We had opportunities to score,” was the message he kept getting. Kerkering made a wild throw past home plate instead of tossing to first after mishandling Andy Pages’ bases-loaded comebacker with two outs in the 11th inning. Pinch-runner Kim Hye-seong scored and the Phillies were eliminated with a 2-1 loss that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a
RSS