Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Timea Babos of Hungary yesterday cruised into the semi-finals of the doubles at the Taiwan Open after Babos had to battle for more than two hours before booking a spot in the quarter-finals of the singles at the Heping Sports Complex in Taipei.
The top seeds took just 61 minutes to see off the challenge of Japanese duo Eri Hozumi and Junri Namigata 6-1, 6-4.
The Taiwanese-Hungarian pairing saved two of four break points and converted five of nine, winning 58 of the 100 points contested as Chan kept her bid to retain the title she won last year with elder sister Latisha Chan firmly on track.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The top seeds are to face Nao Hibino and Oksana Kalashnikova in tomorrow’s semi-final after the Japanese-Georgian pairing defeated Cornelia Lister of Sweden and Arina Rodionova of Australia 6-2, 6-2 in 63 minutes in the earlier quarter-final.
In the singles, fourth seed Babos eventually battled to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Slovenian world No. 169 Dalila Jakupovic in 2 hours, 5 minutes.
Babos saved two of six break points and converted six of eight to set up a quarter-final against Magda Linette, who had an even tougher time overcoming Johanna Larsson.
The Polish seventh seed eventually defeated the Swedish world No. 83 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3) in 3 hours, 7 minutes.
“Johanna is always a tough opponent,” Linette told the WTA Web site. “I’m happy that I managed to keep my nerves and get the win today. It was very tough because I was a little bit injured, so I’m glad I managed to turn it around [after losing the second set].”
In the other second-round matches, Wang Yafan of China upset French eighth seed Pauline Parmentier 6-3, 6-3 and Eugenie Bouchard of Canada defeated Ana Bogdan of Romania 7-5, 7-5.
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB