The Chan sisters’ perfect start to the season continued yesterday at the Brisbane International, as the Taiwanese duo advanced to the women’s doubles final.
Fourth seeds Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching survived a fightback by second seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Xu Yifan of China to claim a 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 victory in 1 hour, 21 minutes at the Queensland Tennis Centre.
The sisters saved nine of 12 break points and converted four of five, winning 60 of the 119 points contested to advance to today’s final, when they have the chance to claim a 15th WTA Tour doubles title.
The Chan sisters are to take on third seeds Nicole Melichar of the US and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic, who ousted Czech top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 7-5 in the other semi-final.
In the women’s singles, former champion Karolina Pliskova moved into the semi-finals with a three-set win over Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic.
Pliskova stormed through the first set and dropped the second set equally quickly before cruising through the third to win 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 and set up a semi-final against Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
The tall Czech was in imperious form in the first set and appeared set for a lightning-quick victory, but her game dropped off slightly as Tomljanovic picked hers up to level the match.
However, the third was almost an exact copy of the first as Pliskova found her mark with booming serves.
Earlier, Vekic was in blistering form as she thrashed last year’s runner-up Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-0.
Vekic played what she later called “perfect” tennis, giving her Belarusian opponent no chance in the 56-minute demolition.
“I think today was probably one of the most perfect matches I’ve ever played in my career,” she said. “Everything was going well for me. I was trying to be aggressive, trying to play my game and not give her time to be aggressive, because if she’s on, she’s on.”
The 22-year-old Vekic is to finish the week inside the top 30, guaranteeing herself a seeding at the Australian Open.
Vekic burst onto the scene in 2012, when she reached the final of her first WTA tournament in Tashkent as a 16-year-old.
However, she said she has struggled to live up to people’s expectations of her and her career suffered as a result.
“There’s ups and downs in every career, every sport — not only in sport, in life,” Vekic said. “And I think I’ve already gone through that, and to say I’ve already gone through that at 22 I think is pretty good.”
In the men’s singles, fourth seed Daniil Medvedev reached the semi-finals by beating Milos Raonic 6-7 (7/2), 6-3, 6-4.
The score was level at 4-4 in the third when Medvedev got the decisive break on a succession of unforced errors from the 2016 Brisbane champion.
Medvedev is next to play 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Alex de Minaur 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).
The 33-year-old Tsonga, coming off eight months on the sidelines with a knee injury, held his nerve despite a partisan crowd.
Second seed Kei Nishikori and Jeremy Chardy had earlier progressed to today’s semi-finals.
Additional reporting by AP
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and