Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Tuesday was a two-time victor at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, while Russian star Maria Sharapova giggled with delight as she revealed how she plucked up the courage to pop the question and got to practice with Rafael Nadal on the clay courts in Rome.
Qualifier Hsieh had to wait for the rain to ease before cruising past Belarussian world No. 45 Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour, 22 minutes.
The Kaohsiung-born world No. 50 saved one of three break points and converted five of seven, winning 64 of 118 points to advance to a second-round clash with British world No. 22 Johanna Konta.
Photo: AFP
Hsieh has a 2-2 career record against Konta and although she lost their most recent encounter on the grass courts at Wimbledon last year, she did win their last match on clay at last year’s French Open.
Hsieh returned later to book a spot in the second round of the doubles as she teamed up with Daria Gavrilova to defeat Alicja Rosolska of Poland and Abigail Spears of the US 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour, 14 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Australian duo saved two of five break points and converted five of 16 as Hsieh advanced to another second-round clash with Konta, who is partnering Zhang Shuai of China.
On the practice courts, Sharapova and Nadal hit balls together on the red clay of the Foro Italico where they are both multiple winners.
“I saw he was practicing on the court right before me and I said to my team: ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if I just came up to Rafa and said would you hit a couple balls with me?’ And they’re like: ‘Yeah, what’s wrong with that? And I was like: ‘A lot of things. There’s a lot of things wrong with just coming up to Rafa.’ They’re like: ‘No, you should. It’s not like you’re asking him to go on a date, and so I did,” Sharapova said after advancing to the second round of the singles past Australian Ashleigh Barty. “He probably thought I was really weird. I think he still thinks I’m really weird.”
In her first-round match, five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova needed 2 hours, 30 minutes to master world No. 18 Barty 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.
She next meets Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova as she bids to recapture the title she won three times in 2011, 2012 and 2015.
“This tournament has been special in my career,” said the 31-year-old, who received a wild-card entry last year as she made her comeback from a 15-month doping ban.
She retired injured from her second-round match to end her hopes of qualifying on merit for Wimbledon’s main draw after being denied a wild-card entry to Roland Garros.
“It’s brought me a lot of great matches and a lot of match play toward the Grand Slam that we all look forward to playing, and usually it’s the last tournament I play before Roland Garros, so it is an important one,” said two-time French Open champion Sharapova, who reached the quarter-finals at the Mutua Madrid Open last week.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
RSS