Taiwanese eighth seed Hsieh Su-wei on Monday rallied from a set down to oust Kaia Kanepi in the opening round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, while top seed Ashleigh Barty stepped up her French Open preparations with a ruthless display to cruise past Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum 6-4 6-4.
World No. 49 Hsieh had to fight back after losing the first set and took 2 hours, 14 minutes to complete a 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory over the Estonian world No. 51.
The Taiwanese mixed four aces with 10 double faults, saving seven of 12 break points and converting six of 13 to improve her career record over Kanepi to 3-1 after losing her previous match to the Estonian at last year’s US Open.
Hsieh faces Czech wild-card Lucie Safarova in the second round after the world No. 54 defeated Russian qualifier Marina Melnikova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Safarova has a 4-0 career record against Hsieh, including victories last season in Nottingham, England, and Budapest.
Australian No. 1 Barty struck 24 winners and saved both break points she faced to seal her victory in 1 hour, 15 minutes.
The 22-year-old’s win set up a second-round encounter with in-form Istanbul Cup winner Pauline Parmentier, after the home favorite overcame China’s Wang Yafan 6-4, 7-6 (10/8).
“I’ve never played her before, but I know it’s probably the complete opposite game style to who I played today,” world No. 17 Barty said.
“For me, it’s another challenge. It’s always very tough playing French players in their country,” she said.
In the doubles, Taiwanese world No. 1 Latisha Chan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals, while younger sister Chan Hao-ching fell to a shock defeat on Monday.
Latisha Chan and Kumkhum defeated Liang Chen of China and Jessica Moore of Australia 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) in 1 hour, 32 minutes.
The Taiwanese-Thai duo saved three of six break points and converted four of eight, winning 74 of the 129 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against Makoto Ninomiya of Japan and Yana Sizikova of Russia, who stunned second seeds Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
Top seeds Chan Hao-ching and Yang Zhaoxuan of China fell to a shock 3-6, 6-4, 10-2 loss to unseeded Romanians Mihaela Buzarnescu and Raluca Olaru.
For the first time in almost 36 years, a Parisian derby will be played in French soccer’s top flight when reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain FC take on the nouveau riche Paris Football Club (PFC) today. Not one of the players involved in today’s match — PFC’s 38-year-old third-choice goalkeeper Remy Riou is almost certainly not going to be involved — was born the last time there was a Parisian derby in Ligue 1. That was on Feb. 25, 1990, when Moroccan midfielder Aziz Bouderbala scored a brace as Racing Paris 1 beat PSG 2-1 at the Parc des Princes home that
BOUNCING BACK: Antetokounmpo had just returned from an eight-game injury absence last month, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their third win in four games Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down the game-winning dunk with 4.7 seconds remaining to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a 122-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets and grab a slice of NBA history on Friday. The Bucks trailed by as many as 16 on their home floor, but Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 30 points in the final quarter to help seal the win in a frantic finish that saw five lead changes in the final 45.7 seconds. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) added 10 rebounds and five assists. It was his 158th regular-season game with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and
Stan Wawrinka’s 40-year-old legs did not let him down over three-plus hours in his first singles match of a farewell tour yesterday. Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka beat Arthur Rinderknech of France, who is ranked 29th to Wawrinka’s 157th, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). The match went 3 hours, 16 minutes. Wawrinka last month announced that this year would be his last on the ATP tour. “Today was a tough battle ... it’s amazing to come here for the first time, to have so much support,” Wawrinka said yesterday. “Twenty years on tour, you kind of always play in the same place
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka yesterday got her season off to a winning start for Japan in the United Cup, after the UK’s Emma Raducanu pulled out of their singles clash with a fitness issue, while in Brisbane, Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Wu Fang-hsien crashed out of the women’s doubles. In Perth, despite Osaka’s win, the UK took the match 2-1 with a deciding mixed doubles victory. Osaka was too strong for reserve and 276th-ranked Katie Swan, winning 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 as Raducanu watched from the sidelines. “I’m proud of how I fought,” Osaka said. “I’d never played here, it was tough.” Britain
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