Chang Kai-chen yesterday won the Taiwanese showdown on the first day of the Taiwan Open at the Heping Sports Complex in Taipei, while Chinese second seed Zhang Shuai fell to a shock defeat.
World No. 273 Chang defeated Taiwanese wild-card Lee Ya-hsuan, ranked No. 384, 7-5, 6-2 in 72 minutes in the first round of the singles.
In the first ever meeting of the Taiwanese players on the WTA Tour, Chang saved three of seven break points and converted seven of 10, winning 66 of the 114 points contested, despite racking up eight double faults.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
In the second round Chang is due to face fifth seed Yulia Putintseva, who survived a hard-fought second set to overcome Junri Namigata of Japan 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour, 36 minutes.
“It’s better than to lose the first match of the tournament,” the world No. 51 told the WTA Web site when asked about the pressure of opening the tournament.
Former French Open quarter-finalist Putintseva saved one of three break points and converted five of 11, winning 75 of the 133 points contested.
“I think I was moving pretty good today. I was trying to play my game, play rallies, trying to finish when I can. In the end, it worked good for me,” she said.
Second seed Zhang, the Chinese world No. 34, fell to a shock 6-2, 6-4 defeat to Ukrainian world No. 85 Kateryna Kozlova in 77 minutes.
Also advancing yesterday were Kazakh sixth seed Zarina Diyas, Monica Niculescu of Romania and China’s Duan Ying-ying.
Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching is due to begin her defense of the doubles title she won with elder sister Latisha Chan at the Heping Sports Complex today.
Chan Hao-ching has teamed up with Hungarian Timea Babos, who is fresh from claiming the Australian Open doubles title with Kristina Mladenovic last week.
The top seeds are due to face Anna Blinkova of Russia and Magda Linette of Poland in the first round.
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
Some of Clearlake Capital Group’s largest investors are growing increasingly concerned about how much time the company’s co-founders are spending on sports investments as they have struggled to complete the fundraising for the private equity firm’s latest flagship fund. One of Clearlake’s co-founders, Behdad Eghbali, has been spending what some investors described as a disproportionate amount of time on the firm’s investment in Chelsea Football Club in recent months. Now, co-founder Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, are nearing a record US$3.9 billion deal to acquire the San Diego Padres. That personal investment by Feliciano has set off the latest
RSS