Defending champion Julia Goerges suffered a bruising defeat to Anett Kontaveit yesterday at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China. The fifth seed took a nasty tumble midway through the match, which she went on to lose 2-6, 6-4, 4-6 after more than two hours.
Kontaveit, the tournament 10th seed, started brightly, breaking the world No. 14 three times to take the opening set.
Goerges, 29, fell heavily onto the hard court in the sixth game of the second set, and needed to ice her right leg during the changeover.
Photo: AFP
Clearly slightly rattled, the German nevertheless dug deep to claim the set, pumping her fist and gesturing to her coach as she celebrated.
However, it was the 22-year-old Estonian Kontaveit who won the decider at the Hengqin International Tennis Center.
World No. 20 Kontaveit has now played both her round-robin matches, after losing on Tuesday to Belgium’s Elise Mertens, who is to play Goerges later in the tournament.
China’a No. 1 Wang Qiang has been left “really tired” at the end of a punishing season on the WTA tour and believes she has played “too many matches.”
The world No. 22 has been on a spectacular run of form that has seen her leapfrog Zhang Shuai to become China’s top singles player.
However, the grueling schedule at the season’s climax has left the 26-year-old feeling fatigued — mentally and physically.
“It’s really too much,” she said at the WTA Elite Trophy on Tuesday. “Too many tournaments for me, too many matches. Especially the last two months.”
Wang won the Guangzhou Open in September, her second career title after beating compatriot Zheng Saisai at the Jiangxi Open in July.
She made the semi-finals at the Wuhan Open, but had to retire with an injury.
She impressed again last month by staging an outstanding comeback to defeat former Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza to reach her first Hong Kong Open final.
Asked about her eye-catching season, the soft-spoken Asian Games champion, who is playing in Zhuhai for the first time, said: “I’m so happy to be here and play this tournament, but now, mentally and my body is really tired, so after this one I will go on holiday.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two